The Land of Inopportunity: Closing the childhood equity gap for America’s kids

Where a child grows up can determine their prospects in life more than you might guess. In most states across America, there are stark differences between communities that provide children the childhoods they deserve, and those where childhoods end too soon. These disparities threaten the future of our next generation, and they are being magnified by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

In its 2020 U.S. Complement to the Global Childhood Report, Save the Children has examined data from more than 2,600 counties and county-equivalents in all 50 states to create a first-ever ranking of counties where children are most and least prioritized and protected. The rankings are based on four factors that end childhood: malnutrition, poor education, teenage pregnancy and early death due to ill health, accident, murder or suicide.