“So many families are impoverished”: Devastating data shows that Florida children are ‘suffering’, education, healthcare, housing are to blame
Florida – Florida is facing a disturbing plateau in child well-being, with recent data exposing serious difficulties in education and housing affordability. According to the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the state ranks 35th nationwide in overall child well-being—marking little to no gain compared to recent years.
The changes in Florida’s schools are among of the most concerning. The state used to be fifth in the country, but today it’s 19th. The reduction comes as new data show that 67% of fourth graders are not reading at grade level, and 79% of eighth graders are not fulfilling math competence levels. For school professionals and families alike, these data portray a grim image.
“There’s not just one piece of policy, administrative change, or legislative change that’s going to address the fact that so many families are impoverished,” said Norin Dollard, a senior policy analyst and KIDS COUNT director at the Florida Policy Institute, “or that our health care looks the way that it does. And that our education is not improving.”
Housing remains another pressure point. More than one in three Florida families—38%—are spending over 30% of their income on housing costs, putting them in a financially dangerous position. Rising rents and stagnating incomes have left many families insecure, often having to make harsh decisions between paying for necessities like food, utilities, or medical care.
Healthcare concerns are also surfacing, notably with 8% of youngsters in Florida still lacking insurance coverage. Advocates say that access to essential medical care could get worse, especially for low-income families, because of projected federal Medicaid cuts and no big additional state-level investments.
Nationally, racial gaps continue to impair child well-being, and Florida is no exception. Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, underlined that children of color are disproportionately harmed.
“The child well-being outcomes on 15 out of 16 indicators for Native kids are lower than the national average,” said Boissiere. “If you look at Black kids, it’s eight out of 16 indicators, where Black kids’ outcomes are lower than the national average.”
Despite minor gains in some areas, like a reduction in teen births and fewer single-parent households, the overall picture remains problematic. High school diploma rates have stalled, and the state’s standing in national rankings shows a growing disparity between students who have access to outstanding resources and those who do not.
Small things that parents and communities can do, like reading with their kids, using free educational tools, and going to local school meetings, can make a big difference. But everyone who supports policy agrees: without focused investment and institutional reform, too many kids in Florida will keep falling behind.
