Oregon Community Foundation

Toward a Thriving Future: Closing the Opportunity Gap for Oregon’s Kids

A boy on a swing

In 2017, OCF published this report providing Oregon-specific opportunity gap data organized into three domains: neighborhoods and communities, family stability and supports, and education. The challenges faced by Oregon’s children mirror the national data: one in five Oregon children live in poverty and in a majority of Oregon’s counties, children who are born in poverty will most likely remain in poverty as adults. Further, children’s family structure and stability impact their chances for future success, and many Oregon children are raised in single-parent families and in families that lack financial security. And gaps in educational opportunity start early and persist, with low-income children and children of color less likely to receive quality early childhood experiences or high-quality K-12 education and enrichment experiences.