ARKANSAS'S PROGRESS ON THE PRENATAL-TO-3 STATE POLICY ROADMAP
The Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap guides state leaders on the most effective investments to ensure all children thrive from the start. Since the 2020 Roadmap, Arkansas increased the generosity of the state minimum wage. Arkansas is one of 11 states that has implemented two of four effective Roadmap policies.
Arkansas took steps to increase access to comprehensive screening and connection programs and child care subsidies. The state is in the process of implementing financial support for doula workforce development. Arkansas also continued support for evidence-based home visiting programs, Early Head Start, Early Intervention services, and policies to reduce administrative burden for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Because of state and federal investments, a parent earning the minimum wage with two children in Arkansas has approximately $35,300 in total resources available to them in 2024, up from $29,500 in 2020.
WHAT PROGRESS HAS ARKANSAS MADE IN IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE ROADMAP POLICIES?
WHAT PROGRESS HAS ARKANSAS MADE IN INCREASING ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE ROADMAP STRATEGIES?
Visit the United States summary for information on the broader nationwide progress since the 2020 Roadmap toward full and equitable implementation of each of the 12 Roadmap policies and strategies.
HOW DO ARKANSAS’S POLICY CHOICES IMPACT FAMILY RESOURCES?
State policy choices do not operate in isolation from one another. Instead, they interact to create a system of support for children and families that varies significantly state-by-state. Our Policy Impact Calculator demonstrates this variation and illustrates the impact of policy choices on family resources over time.
In Arkansas a parent earning the minimum wage with two children has $35,273 in total resources available to them in 2024, up from $29,489 in 2020.
- Change in total resources due to state policies: + $1,600
- Change in total resources due to federal policies: + $4,184
To learn more about the impact that each effective policy and strategy has on the eight prenatal-to-3 policy goals, the choices that states can make to effectively implement them, the progress states have made in the past year toward implementation, and how states compare to each other in their generosity and reach of the policies and strategies, check out the 2024 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.