Experts don’t think Missouri is a Good State to have a Baby
Why did the experts rank Missouri so low on the lists of the best and worst states to have a baby in? Missouri is considerably lower than Illinois and Iowa...why?
WalletHub released a list called Best & Worst States to Have a Baby in 2023, and the Show-Me State of Missouri is ranked all the way down at number 33 on the list. For context, Missouri's neighbors are ranked much higher like Iowa at 7th, Nebraska at 20th, and even Illinois at 21st on the list. How did WalletHub determine which states ranked where on the list? On the site, they say...
"To determine the most ideal places in the U.S. to have a baby, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 31 key measures of cost and health care accessibility, as well as baby- and family-friendliness. Our data set ranges from hospital conventional-delivery charges to annual average infant-care costs to pediatricians per capita"
Missouri ranks a very poor 39th in the Health Care category and near the bottom ranking of 44th in the Baby Friendliness category. What is "baby friendliness?" On the site, they say that category is comprised of things like Parental Leave Policies in the state, Mom Groups per capita, Child Centers per capita, and so on. To see the complete rankings for yourself, click here!
The rankings for this are very regional, the bottom states on this ranking are all in the south, states like Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisianna, and South Carolina, so maybe that played into why Missouri was ranked so low. Do you think Missouri is a bad place to have a baby?
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