Childhood poverty is declining in Florida, experts weigh in
A new report reveals how childhood poverty numbers look in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Childhood poverty in Florida is improving but there is still work to be done.
A recent Florida Chamber Foundations report shows 200-thousand Florida children have gotten out of poverty since 2016.
Rural counties experience a disproportionate amount of childhood poverty. Most of the children in Florida that experience poverty only live in 15 percent of the state’s counties, 152 out of 928 zip codes.
In Leon County, the 32304 zip code has the highest rate of child poverty in the entire state.
Florida Politics:
Experts identified 10 root causes of poverty including food insecurity, lack of education and lack of work opportunities among others.
Mark Wilson, the president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce spoke about the importance of addressing this issue.
“As Florida tries to become the 15th largest economy in the world we have 711,000 kids in poverty and we have to attack this not at the federal level, state level, or the county level. This is a neighborhood by neighborhood intiative,” he said.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce is hosting a summit in June to discuss how people can impact childhood poverty in their communities.
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