Kentucky

Kentucky is a predominantly rural state in the southeastern United States. According to the 2000 Census, Kentucky had a population of just over 4 million, with about 44 percent of the population in rural counties. Ninety percent of women in Kentucky are non-Hispanic white. Median age is 35.9, and life expectancy is 75.2, almost 3 years less than the national average. Kentucky is socially conservative and church activities play a significant role in community and family life.

Kentucky mothers face significant economic, educational, and public health challenges. It has a higher family poverty rate than the U.S. average—13.1 versus 9.8 percent—and ranks 6th in the percentage of children living below the poverty level (23.9 percent). The median per capita income (2005) is below the national average ($28,272 versus $34,471). Poverty is concentrated in rural areas, especially in eastern Kentucky (Appalachia). Educational attainment is lower than the national average, with 79.6 percent of persons over 25 years of age attaining a high school education, and only 20 percent of the same age group holding a bachelor's degree. National averages are 84.1 percent [Page 619]and 27 percent, respectively. Nationally, Kentucky ranks 46th for high school completion rate.

Health insurance rates for women vary widely among racial and ethnic groups. Seventeen percent of whites, 25.8 percent of African Americans, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders, 19.7 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Natives, and almost half of Latinas in Kentucky lack health insurance.

In 2007, the fertility rate for women age 15–50 was 50 per 1,000 (compared to the U.S. rate of 55 per 1,000), and for unmarried women was 42 per 1,000 (U.S. rate, 36 per 1,000). Close to half of all women age 15 and over were married in 2007. The state mirrored national rates of single, mother-headed households with minor children (7.5 percent), and at 13.5 percent was slightly above the national rate of 11.7 percent of women over age 15 who were divorced. The teen birth rate is 19 percent higher than the national average, standing at 49.2 per 1,000 women age 15–19. The average family size is slightly below the national average.

State law does not require sexuality education in public schools, and the state receives federal abstinence-until-marriage funding, which funds programs that promote virginity pledges and morality-based messages about abstinence.

The state prenatal care rate is close to the national rate. Latinas and African American women, however, have significantly lower rates of early prenatal care than white women. Midwives attended 6 percent of births versus 8 percent nationally.

Just over one-third of women of childbearing age and 26.6 percent of pregnant women smoke. There are wide variations in smoking rates for pregnant women, with some eastern rural Kentucky county rates reaching 50 percent. The preterm birth rate (15.2 percent versus 12.7 percent nationally) has increased significantly over the past decade.

There is no state mandate for contraceptive coverage or for infertility diagnosis or treatment in Kansas. Abortion provider are located in urban centers, and a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent and notification for minor women is mandatory.

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