Put simply, Texas is home to a massive number of infants, toddlers, and young children. It is also one of the most diverse states in the nation, where young children come from varying economic, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. To effectively address school readiness, policymakers need to understand and respond to the demographic realities of the state’s population of young children.
The population of Texas children under age six is greater than Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Florida combined. Approximately 1 in 10 American children under age 6 lives in Texas.
If Texas meaningfully boosts school readiness, it will not only positively impact Texas’ future but have national implications as well.
In addition to the overwhelming scale, it’s also noteworthy that the state’s youngest children are diverse and raised in a variety of family contexts and household structures.
With more than 373,000 annual births, Texas will continue to be home to a large percentage of the country’s babies, toddlers, and young children. Consistent with the number of young children in Texas today, approximately 1 in 10 U.S. births each year is a child born in Texas.
