America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005 Highlights |
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America's Children 2005
Introductory Material Foreword Acknowledgments About this Report Highlights Summary List of Recent Indicator Changes Population and Family Characteristics Economic Security Health Behavior and Social Environment Education Special Features Special Section
Press Releases Printer-friendly PDF version of America's Children 2005 | America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2005 is a biennial report to the Nation on the condition of children in America. Nine contextual measures describe the changing population, family, and environmental context in which children are living, and 25 indicators depict the well-being of children in the areas of economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education. This year's report has special features on children with asthma, children with specified blood lead levels, and parental reports of children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties. In addition, the report includes a special section on family structure and the well-being of children. Highlights from each section of the report follow. Population and Family Characteristics In 2003, there were 73 million children ages 0–17 in the United States, or 25 percent of the population, down from a peak of 36 percent at the end of the baby boom (1964). Children are projected to compose 24 percent of the total population in 2020. The racial and ethnic diversity of America’s children continues to increase over time. In 2003, 60 percent of U.S. children were White-alone, non-Hispanic, 16 percent were Black-alone, and 4 percent were Asian-alone.1 The proportion of Hispanic children has increased faster than that of any other racial and ethnic group, growing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 19 percent in 2003. In 2004, 68 percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents, down from 77 percent in 1980. After decreasing from 1980 to 1994, the percentage has remained stable at about 68–69 percent from 1994 to 2004. Between 1980 and 1994, the rate of childbearing by unmarried women rose sharply for women of all ages. For all age groups combined, this trend ended in 1994. Birth rates for unmarried teenagers have dropped considerably since 1994, while increases in rates for women in their twenties and older have slowed. In 2003, the overall birth rate was 45 births per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44. In 2003, 62 percent of children ages 0–17 lived in counties in which one or more of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards were exceeded, an improvement from 69 percent in 1999. Children’s exposure to secondhand smoke, as indicated by blood cotinine levels, dropped between 1988–1994 and 1999–2002. Overall, 59 percent of children ages 4–11 had cotinine in their blood in 1999–2002, down from 88 percent in 1988–1994. In 2003, 11 percent of children ages 0–6 lived in homes where someone smoked regularly. Economic Security Indicators In 2003, 18 percent of all children ages 0–17 lived in poverty, whereas among children living in families, the poverty rate was 17 percent. The official poverty rate of children living in families below the poverty threshold has fluctuated since the early 1980s: it reached a high of 22 percent in 1993 and decreased to a low of 16 percent in 2000. In 2003, 89 percent of children had health insurance coverage at some point during the year. While government insurance coverage has continued its upward trend since 1999, the proportion of children covered by private health insurance has dropped since 2000, reversing the upward trend from 1994–1999. Health Indicators The proportion of children ages 6–18 who were overweight increased from 6 percent in 1976–1980 to 16 percent in 1999–2002. Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities exist, such that in 1999–2002, Black-alone, non-Hispanic girls and Mexican American boys were at particularly high risk of being overweight (23 percent and 27 percent, respectively).1 While still near its record low, the infant mortality rate increased in 2002 for the first time in decades. The rate was 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, up from a rate of 6.8 in 2001. A special analysis showed that most of the increase was due to an increase in the number of infants weighing less than 750 grams, or about 1 lb. 10 oz. Racial and ethnic disparities persist, with the Black, non-Hispanic infant mortality rate consistently higher than that of other racial or ethnic groups. Child mortality dropped by approximately half between 1980 and 2002 among children ages 1–4 (from 64 to 31 deaths per 100,000 children) and among children ages 5–14 (from 31 to 17 deaths per 100,000 children). Deaths from firearm injuries among adolescents declined between 1995 and 2002, particularly among Black and Hispanic males. For example, from 1995 to 2002, the firearm homicide rate declined from 101 to 48 deaths per 100,000 Black males and from 47 to 22 deaths per 100,000 Hispanic males. The birth rate for adolescents continued to decline in 2003 to 22 births per 1,000 females ages 15–17, representing the lowest rate ever recorded. The decrease in adolescent births is apparent for all racial and ethnic groups and is notable among Black adolescents. The birth rate among Black, non-Hispanic females ages 15–17 dropped by more than half between 1991 and 2003 (from 86 to 39 births per 1,000), completely reversing the increase from 1986 to 1991. Behavior and Social Environment Indicators Following several years of gradual decreases, the rate of daily smoking remained stable between 2003 and 2004; in 2004, 4 percent of 8th-graders, 8 percent of 10th-graders, and 16 percent of 12th¬graders reported smoking cigarettes daily in the previous 30 days. The percentage of students who reported having five or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks was stable from 2003 to 2004 at 11 percent among 8th¬graders, 22 percent among 10th-graders, and 29 percent among 12th-graders. Between 2003 and 2004, illicit drug use (in the past 30 days) significantly declined from 10 percent to 8 percent among 8th-graders. Serious violent crime involving juvenile victims and offenders went up between 2002 and 2003. In 2003, 18 per 1,000 juveniles were victims of serious violent crimes—that is, homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—and 15 per 1,000 juveniles were reported by victims to have committed such crimes. These rates increased from those in 2002, when 10 per 1,000 youth were victims of serious crimes and 11 per 1,000 juveniles were identified as offenders. However, rates still generally declined from their peaks in 1993 of 44 victims per 1,000 youth and 52 offending youth per 1,000 juveniles. Education Indicators The average mathematics scale score of 4th- and 8th-graders was higher in 2003 than in all previous National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments since the series began in 1990. In reading, the 2003 4th-grade scale score was not measurably different from the scale score in 1992, the first year of the reading assessment series. The 8th-grade reading scale score declined 1 point from 2002 to 2003, but the 2003 scale score was higher than in 1992. The proportion of Black-alone, non-Hispanic youth who were neither in school nor working was 10 percent in 2004, down from 12 percent in 2003. More Black-alone, non-Hispanic youth moved from the category “not enrolled in school and not working” into the category of “enrolled in school and not working” in 2004 (not shown in table ED6.A).1 White-alone, non-Hispanic persons ages 25–29 in 2003 were more likely to have earned at least a bachelor’s degree (32 percent) than their Black-alone, non-Hispanic (18 percent) and Hispanic (12 percent) peers. The percentage of Black-alone, non-Hispanic persons with at least a bachelor’s degree increased from 12 percent in 1980, and the percentage of Hispanic persons with at least a bachelor’s degree increased from 8 percent in 1980.1 Special Features In 2003, about 13 percent of children had been diagnosed with asthma at some time in their lives, about 9 percent of children were reported to currently have asthma, and about 6 percent of children had one or more asthma attacks in the previous year. From 1997–2003, the trends for these three asthma indicators have remained fairly stable; however, between 1980 and 1995, childhood asthma, as measured using different indicators, more than doubled. In 1999–2002, less than 2 percent of children ages 1–5 had blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). The median concentration of lead in the blood of children ages 1–5 dropped from 14 µg/dL in 1976–1980 to about 2 µg/dL in 2001–2002, a decline of 89 percent. In 2003, 5 percent of children ages 4–17 were reported by a parent to have definite or severe difficulties with emotions, concentration, behavior, or being able to get along with other people. Sixty-five percent of the parents of these children reported contacting a mental health professional or general doctor and/or that the child received special education for these difficulties. Special Section In 2002, 7 percent of births to married mothers were low birthweight, compared with 10 percent of births to unmarried mothers. In that same year, the infant mortality rate for infants born to married mothers was 5 per 1,000 live births, compared with 10 per 1,000 live births for infants born to unmarried mothers. Pooled data from 1996 and 2001 show that 97 percent of adolescents ages 15–17 who lived with their married, biological parents were enrolled in school, compared with 94 percent of adolescents who lived with a single parent, and 80 percent of adolescents who lived with neither parent. According to pooled data from 1996 and 2001, 86 percent of adolescents ages 15–17 who lived with their married, biological parents, were reported to be in excellent or very good health, compared with 80 percent of adolescents who lived with a married stepparent, 76 percent of those who lived with a single parent, and 67 percent of those who lived with neither parent. Pooled data from 1996 and 2001 show that 2 percent of all females ages 15–17 who lived with their married biological parents became unmarried mothers by age 17–19, compared with 9 percent of those who lived with a single parent, and 27 percent of those who did not live with either parent.
2005 Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics Privacy Policy