Bad News: Wyoming is One of the States With the Most At-Risk Youth in 2024

Our youth have so much to worry about on a daily basis, and although Wyoming has the smallest population in the country, that doesn't stop us from having our own list of problems.

A new study released today (Wednesday, July 24th, 2024), by personal finance website, WalletHub, listed the "States with the Most At-Risk Youth (2024)", and unfortunately, out of all fifty states and the District of Columbia, the Cowboy State landed in the top 10.

Wyoming was ranked as the 9th worst state overall for at-risk youth. Some of the key metrics that lead to our scoring include:

• Health Rank - 2nd
• Education & Employment Rank - 12th
• Youth Poverty Rate - 13th
• Percentage of Homeless Youth - 13th
• Percentage of Overweight & Obese Youth - 18th
• Percentage of Youth Without a High School Diploma - 22nd

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WalletHub analyst, Cassandra Happe, stated:

A high share of youth who are not working, not getting education and generally stagnating in life can spell trouble for the future. States that are most impacted by this problem, as well as related issues like high youth poverty rates, widespread drug use and low test scores, need a wake-up call to invest more into improving conditions for young residents. Otherwise, the future economic and social progress of the state is in danger.

The study went on to detail some of the problems our youth face throughout the entire county. They stated:

13% of individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 are neither working nor attending school. Others suffer from poor health conditions that hinder their ability to develop physically or socially. In addition, research shows that when youth grow up in environments with economic problems and a lack of role models, they’re more at risk for poverty, early pregnancy and violence, into adulthood.

The youth are our future, so changes most definitely need to be made, not just for Wyoming, but for the entire country, to ensure our future generations are secure... and the changes need to start happening now.