Ready for K Data Platform Takeaways
- Neighborhood-level resources are essential to early childhood development. Families need access to regulated child care that is close to their home or work.
- There are 26 neighborhoods in Jefferson County that have no regulated child care within their neighborhood boundaries.*
- There are an additional 25 neighborhoods** that have fewer than 1 child care space for every 2 children who want one in their Local Child Care Market.***
- Concentrated economic hardship and lack of opportunity within communities compounds barriers to early childhood development, including making it harder to access child care, health care, and educational opportunities. For a family of four, 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is $60,000. If that family has two young children, child care costs alone could easily exceed 40% of that income.
- There are 16 neighborhoods in Jefferson County where more than 90% of children younger than six live in households with incomes lower than 200% of FPL. There are 34 neighborhoods with 75% of children under six, and 56 neighborhoods with 50% of children under six, living in households below 200% FPL.
- Birthing parents need access to high quality pre-natal care throughout pregnancy. Although it can occur in healthy pregnancies, low-birth weight is one potential indicator of difficult pregnancy. When the rate of low birthweight births climbs above the average rate, it provides strong evidence that a community is underserved by the prenatal healthcare system.
- In Jefferson County, an average of 713, or 10.1% of children, are born with low birthweights each year. In 19 neighborhoods, more than 15% of infants are born with low birthweights.
- Lack of educational opportunities in a community poses multiple challenges for early childhood development. A community with a percentage of births to mothers without a high school degree signals that educational opportunities are lacking in the community and that families are likely to face increased barriers to accessing resources to support early childhood development.
- Across Jefferson County, 12.6% of children are born to mothers without high school degrees. There are 13 neighborhoods where that rate is doubled, and 26% or more births are to mothers without a high school degree.
“*Neighborhoods with no regulated child care: Audubon Park-Prestonia, Bonnycastle, Deer Park, Fincastle, Flat Rock-Long Run, Germantown-Paristown Pointe, Goose Creek, Iroquois, Jefferson Forest, McNeely Lake, East-Heritage Creek, Minor Lane, Newburg East-Petersburg, Old Louisville-Limerick, Original Highlands, Riverside Gardens-Lake Dreamland, Rolling Hills-Meadow Vale-Westwood, Shelby Park, Six Mile-Houston Acres, Southside, Southwest Dixie-Valley Village, St. Matthews North-Beechwood Village, St. Matthews Northwest-Chenoweth, Strathmoor Village-Kingsley, Valley Station South-Orell, Valley Station Southwest-Bethany, Worthington
**Fewer than 1 child care space for every 2 children: Auburndale East, Beechmont, Cedar Creek, Commerce Crossings-Mud Lane, Fairdale South-Hollyvilla, Fern Creek Southeast-Billtown, Fincastle, Hazelwood, Kenwood Hill, McNeely Lake East-Heritage Creek, McNeely Lake North-Preston Crossing, McNeely Lake West, Minor Lane, Oakdale-Wyandotte, PRP Northwest-Rockford, Riverport-Greenwood, Riverside Gardens-Lake Dreamland, Southland Park, Southside, Southwest Dixie-Valley Village, Valley Station South-Orell, Valley Station Southwest-Bethany, Valley Station-Prairie Village, Wilder Park-Fairgrounds, Worthington Hills-Coldstream
***A neighborhood’s Local Child Care Market is defined as the neighborhood and every other neighborhood that touches it. The Local Child Care Market is different for each neighborhood. The child care capacity is defined as the estimated total number of child care spaces at all regulated providers within the Local Child Care Market, and the demand for child care is defined as the estimated total number of children younger than 5 within the Local Child Care Market whose families are likely to want regulated child care
