UA report: Black Belt children face health, education disparity compared to rest of Alabama

From birth to graduating from high school, life isn’t easy for kids in Alabama. It’s even harder for kids in the Black Belt.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from The University of Alabama’s Education Policy Institute. The report, titled Children of Alabama in 2025, cites data ranging from Alabama’s high infant mortality rate to the state’s high rate of single-parent households to the state’s sparsity of quality daycare options to the state’s inconsistent public schools.

And the numbers are consistently worse in the Black Belt compared to the state as a whole and non-Black Belt counties.

According to the report, “Alabama has historically had a higher average infant mortality rate than the United States’ average.” Infant mortality is the death of a baby between the time they are born and 1 year of age, and public health officials measure the rate by the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

In 2024, Alabama had an average infant mortality rate of 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the United States had rate of 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

“Counties in Alabama’s Black Belt tend to struggle with infant mortality more than counties outside of Alabama’s Black Belt,” the report states. “In 2024, the average infant mortality rate in Black Belt counties was 9.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the average rate in non-Black Belt counties was 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.”

“One possible explanation for the higher infant mortality in Alabama’s Black Belt is the lack of access to pregnancy-related healthcare,” the report states. “Black Belt counties have fewer institutions, resources and services aimed at caring for pregnant women and their babies.”

Only three Black Belt counties (Montgomery, Dallas and Escambia) have hospitals that provide obstetrical services, which means mothers must travel to get prenatal care, the report notes.

The state’s decision not to expand Medicaid eligibility “has left an insurance coverage gap that leads to high uncompensated care costs,” the report states. “These high costs have had detrimental effects on the survival of rural hospitals. Since 2011, 10 rural hospitals in Alabama have been forced to close their doors, with seven of those hospitals being in or providing services to the Black Belt.”

Seven Black Belt counties have no hospital at all, and a national report released in April 2026 “indicated that three Black Belt hospitals – Grove Hill Memorial Hospital, Hill Hospital of Sumter County and Hale County Hospital – are at heightened risk of closing or reducing services due to Medicaid cuts enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” according to the report.

The report suggests expanding the Well Woman Program, which offers free or reduced-cost services to promote family planning, health screenings, risk reduction counseling and nutrition classes, could help address infant mortality in Alabama.

Persistent poverty plays a role in a child’s wellbeing, and single-parent households are more likely to be poor. Nationally 20% of households with children are headed by a single parent. In Alabama 24% of the households are one parent, but in the Black Belt 35% of the children live in a single parent household, according to the report.

Education is often seen as the way out of poverty, but children in the Black Belt have fewer options than their peers, beginning with day care. Many Black Belt households can’t afford to pay for quality daycare, and there are fewer top-rated day care options in the Black Belt for families that can afford it.

When it comes to public education, Black Belt county school systems had an average score of 78 on the state report card, while non-Black Belt County school systems had an average score of 87. Black Belt county school systems underperformed in every category compared to non-Black Belt County school systems, with over half scoring a C or lower on their state report cards. No non-Black Belt County school systems scored a C or lower, the report notes, and every system that earned a D or an F are in the Black Belt.

“A potential explanation for these disparities in quality may be the amount of state-level funding for Black Belt County schools,” the report states. “For Alabama’s public schools, the majority of their funding comes from the state. For rural schools, state funding is critical to the quality of a school system. That is why it is worth noting that the state of Alabama spends over $1,400 less per rural student than the national average.”

Expanding Alabama’s successful First-Class Pre-K program could improve education outcomes, the report suggests.

“The disparities in wellbeing in Alabama’s Black Belt represent a broader systemic failure that affects the lives of tens of thousands of residents, specifically the lives of children,” the report states. “The expansion of and increased funding for pre-existing programs such as Well Woman and First-Class Pre-K could provide support for both children and parents located in Alabama’s Black Belt counties.”