I am having trouble trying to determine which is the correct version of the sentence below as it relates to the correct verb to use.

Version 1

1 in 10 men, women,and children has not eaten a good breakfast today.

Version 2

1 in 10, men, women,and children have not eaten a good breakfast today.

Does "1" make the subject singular and thus should use "has" as opposed to "have" ?

Your compound subject is plural. It should be 'have'.


1 in 10, men, women and children have not eaten a good breakfast today.

It is the same as:

One of the dogs, the chickens and the geese are....

It is unquestionably plural. (I would remove the comma before 'and' too.)

Sometimes, however, plural things can be singular if they represent one idea. e.g.

Cows in a field is rare in this village.