Pennsylvania’s surging childcare costs

Childcare is becoming so expensive that some Pennsylvania parents have quit jobs or left the workforce entirely to care for their children. Driving the news: The average cost of center-based daycare in Pennsylvania in 2021 was $11,346, amounting to 10 percent of a married couple’s median income, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. […]

Pa. advocates call for education spending alongside release of ‘Kids Count’ report

The annual Kids Count examines children’s health, economic security and education. The latest edition, released Wednesday, confirmed what many educators, parents and child advocates already knew: The COVID-19 pandemic set back learning among the Commonwealth’s kids. “The long term impacts of the pandemic are not going to be one-time,” said Kari King, president and CEO of Pennsylvania […]

Anxiety, depression diagnoses spiked for Pa. kids during pandemic | Thursday Morning Coffee

It’s already well-established that the massive societal disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic took a huge toll on the mental health of America’s young people. New research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (h/t Axios Philadelphia) shows that the Keystone State’s children were diagnosed with anxiety and depression at a rate that slightly outpaced the national average. Thirteen percent of Pennsylvania’s […]

One in 12 Pa. high-schoolers attempted suicide last year; advocates seek counselors, social workers

While slightly fewer Pennsylvania children are in poverty or have a parent without secure employment compared to last year, mental health needs continue to increase across the state. That’s according to new data from the Annie E Casey Foundation’s annual report on child wellbeing. Across the country, children are in the midst of what the […]

Press Release: Latest National Rankings for Child Well-Being Show Pennsylvania at 20th

The 2020 edition of the KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows Pennsylvania ranks 20th for overall child well-being. The report is a comprehensive national reviews of child well-being and uses 16 indicators across four domains to rank each state: economic well-being, education, family and community, and health. For […]