A new study has ranked Bakersfield as the worst place in the nation for children to grow up.
The study, conducted by diversitydatakids.org, examined how children’s neighborhoods affect their success in life. Its Child Opportunity Index ranks neighborhoods in the U.S. based on the opportunities they provide to children.
The Bakersfield area had the lowest opportunity score, as the report says 51 percent of children live in very low-opportunity neighborhoods. The report says that in the neighborhood of a typical child in Bakersfield, 21 percent of families live in poverty, which has a negative effect on kids’ success.
“Families in Bakersfield have not only fewer economic resources but also less time to spend with their children,” the study says.
The report also criticized Bakersfield because, for the school of a typical child in the Bakersfield area, 24 percent of teachers have less than three years of experience, which makes it “difficult for schools to address the challenges that many students face coming from families that live in poverty.”
Fresno was listed as the second-worst city in the nation for child opportunity.
