High child poverty rates, a sharp drop in the overall population of kids, and an increase in the number of preschoolers staying at home are just a few of the trends highlighted in the territory’s most recent census report, which was discussed at a press conference on St. Thomas on Tuesday.
The report was produced by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, whose Kids Count booklet each year details trends dealing with local children and families.
The first "striking" trend highlighted in the report is the 21 percent drop in the overall number of children in the territory from 2000 to 2010, according to CFVI Board Chairman George H. T. Dudley.
And while he and other speakers linked the decrease to a corresponding drop in birth rates and the amount of people migrating to and from the territory, the main concern was how much the amount of federal dollars – linked to children’s programs – will suffer if the numbers don’t pick up.
Mark Mather, co-author of the report, said, "The overall child dependency ratio (the number of children under 18 for every 100 people ages 18 to 34) is still higher than the national average…and should mean that providing education and social services for this vulnerable age group should consume a substantial share of resources."
"However, as the number and share of children declines, policymakers may be less inclined to devote scarce resources to children’s programs," he said.
Mather added that most state data shows a rapidly growing population, with larger numbers at the bottom for children and smaller numbers at the top for adults. But instead of shaping itself like a pyramid, the territory’s data looks more like a rectangle, with declining numbers in the middle for 20 to 40 year olds.
As more of these individuals are either not having as many children or are leaving the territory and not coming back, federal dollars could become more focused on programs dealing with older populations, such as baby boomers, Mather said.
Any drop in funding at this point is critical, he said, particularly since the census data also highlights that almost one out of every three children under age 18 – or 31 percent of the overall child population – is living in poverty in the territory.
That poverty rate is highest for African American children, which Mather said make up 81 percent of the territory’s population under 18. The poverty rate for children of Hispanic origin is also high and Mather said these two groups are rapidly growing and will dominate the local work force within the next 10 to 15 years.
CFVI President Dee Baecher-Brown said, "These statistics have broad implications for funding for the territory’s future labor force. The future prosperity of the Virgin Islands depends on our ability to prepare all children to become valuable contributors to our society. When a society invests wisely in children and families, the next generation will pay that back through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship."
But to help children overcome their socioeconomic issues and prepare them for the workforce, more effort has to be made to get them into school at an early age, CFVI speakers said, suggesting that at least 27 percent of 3 and 4 year olds in the territory are not in any kind of academic program, whether preschool or daycare.
"It is disturbing that such as large number of children, during these critical years, are not in any kind of academic or educational setting," Dudley said.
Dudley said that the new census data underscores the importance of having everything from more solid early childhood education programs to targeted intervention efforts for students making that difficult transition from high school into adulthood.
Mather said, "Children are becoming a scarce resource here. The population is declining, kids are in desperate need of intervention, and there’s a risk of them getting less attention.”
“Another thing we see is that the Virgin Islands seems to be too often overlooked in federal policy discussions and by federal statistical agencies, so there is a need for us to keep shining the light on data that is important … not just wait for another census."
