(Baltimore, MD, Monday, June 21, 2021) – The Annie E. Casey Foundation is releasing its annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, which shows that nearly a decade of progress after the Great Recession could be erased by the COVID-19 pandemic unless policymakers act boldly to sustain the beginnings of a recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

The 2021 KIDS COUNT® Data Book is a 50-state report released annually to track child well-being in the United States.

In December of 2020, the Foundation identified challenges faced by kids and families during the crisis — food and housing insecurity, lack of access to health care and mental health concerns — and urged immediate action from Congress.

The 2021 Data Book updates this pandemic-period assessment while providing its customary annual state rankings to present a comprehensive picture of child well-being.

Data from surveys confirm that households with children were hit especially hard during the pandemic in 2020 but that the U.S. appeared to be experiencing the start of a recovery in the first months of 2021. Yet, the figures from this year’s Data Book illustrate that simply returning to a pre-pandemic level of support for children and families would shortchange millions of kids and fail to address persistent racial and ethnic disparities.

The Data Book ranks how each state is doing, and in this year’s release, will outline the overall child well-being in each state.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation’s children by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. For more information, http://www.aecf.org/. KIDS COUNT® is a registered trademark of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.