NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday, state leaders released an annual report that tracks data on the well-being of families and children across Tennessee. The 2023 State of the Child in Tennessee report began by highlighting the growing diversity among the state's kids.
It said around 63% of Generation Alpha, or children born after 2013, are white. Around 20% are Black and around 12% are Hispanic or Latino. The Baby Boomer generation in Tennessee is around 82% white, according to the report. It also said around one in seven Tennessee children are part of an immigrant family, and a tenth of kids between 5 and 17 years old speak a language other than English at home.
More than 80% of Tennessee children are enrolled in a public school and around 25% lived in households that received public assistance over the last year, it said. Around 45% of teens between 15 and 19 years old are also in the labor force, the report said.
Around 2 in 5 kids between 12 and 17 years old were also bullied, picked on or excluded over the last year.
Between 2018 and 2021, the report said there were 164 suicide deaths involving children between 9 years old and 17 years old. Around 54% of those were from guns. In 2021, the state suicide rate in that age group was 4.9 per 100,000 children — slightly higher than the national rate.
"In 2021, Tennessee ranked among the top 20 states in the rate of suicides among ages 9-17 and in the top 10 in rate of firearm suicides among the same ages. Since 2018 the firearm suicide rate among young adults has increased from 10.3 per 100,000 to 14.1 per 100,000," the report said.
The report said over the last year, around 53% of high school girls and 30% of high school boys felt sad or hopeless every day for two or more weeks.
It also said one in 14 students had been threatened by a weapon at school over the last year, and one in four saw someone get attacked, stabbed or shot in their neighborhood. Around a third of students said they lived with someone who had a problem with drugs and alcohol. Around one in 11 said they slept away from their parents or guardians because they had been kicked out, ran away or were abandoned.
After a decline in child poverty for kids under 5 years old from 2019 through 2021, the state saw an uptick in 2022. The report said around a fifth of the state's youngest kids are living in poverty.
"At the same time poverty rates for those ages 5 to 17 are at their lowest on record and less than one percent above the comparable national group. Due to the rapid development occurring in the earlier years, children 0 to 5 are particularly susceptible to the potentially negative impacts of living below the poverty line," the report said.
The report noted the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found a state-level fully refundable child tax credit of $3,100 could child poverty in half. Families across the state used 67% of their federal child tax credit on food, and 40% on utilities.
"In Tennessee and nationally, approximately 40% of households reported it was somewhat or very difficult to pay for usual household expenses in the last week," the report said. "55% of households with children reported that the increase in prices over the last two months has been very stressful."
Around a tenth of households with children in the state also said they experienced a loss of income sometime over the last month. Around 10% said they needed to care for children not in school or daycare, and around 14% said they were laid off or furloughed.
The full report is available online, along with a smaller report featuring highlights.