America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008

America's Children at a Glance

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	Previous Value (Year)	Most Recent Value (Year)	Change Between Years
Demographic Background
Child population*
Children ages 0–17 in the United States	73.7 million (2006)	73.9 million (2007)
Children as a proportion of the population*
Children ages 0–17 in the United States	24.6% (2006)	24.5% (2007)
Racial and ethnic composition*
Children ages 0–17 by race and ethnic group
White	76.2% (2006)	76.2% (2007)	NS
White, non-Hispanic	57.6% (2006)	57.0% (2007)
Black	15.4% (2006)	15.4% (2007)	NS
Asian	4.0% (2006)	4.1% (2007)
All other races	4.3% (2006)	4.3% (2007)	NS
Hispanic (of any race)	20.3% (2006)	20.9% (2007)
Family and Social Environment
Family structure and children's living arrangements
Children ages 0–17 living with two married parents	67.4% (2006)	67.8% (2007)	NS
Births to unmarried women
Births to unmarried women ages 15–44	48 per 1,000 (2005)	51 per 1,000 (2006)
All births that are to unmarried women	37% (2005)	38% (2006)
Child care
Children ages 0–6, not yet in kindergarten, who received some form of nonparental child care on a regular basis	61.2% (2001)	60.8% (2005)	NS
Children ages 0–4, with employed mothers, whose primary child care arrangement is with a relative	45.5% (2002)	47.9% (2005)	NS
Children of at least one foreign-born parent
Children ages 0–17 living with at least one foreign-born parent	20.7% (2006)	21.9% (2007)
Language spoken at home and difficulty speaking English
Children ages 5–17 who speak a language other than English at home	19.9% (2005)	20.3% (2006)
Children ages 5–17 who have difficulty speaking English and speak a language other than English at home	5.3% (2005)	5.2% (2006)
Adolescent births
Births to females ages 15–17	21 per 1,000 (2005)	22 per 1,000 (2006)
Child maltreatment
Substantiated reports of maltreatment of children ages 0–17	12.1 per 1,000 (2005)	12.1 per 1,000 (2006)	NS
Economic Circumstances
Child poverty
Children ages 0–17 in poverty	17.6% (2005)	17.4% (2006)	NS
Secure parental employment
Children ages 0–17 living with at least one parent employed year round, full time	78.3% (2005)	78.2% (2006)	NS
Food security
Children ages 0–17 in households classified by USDA as "food insecure"	16.9% (2005)	17.2% (2006)	NS
Health Care
Health insurance coverage
Children ages 0–17 covered by health insurance	89.1% (2005)	88.3% (2006)
Usual source of health care
Children ages 0–17 with no usual source of health care	5% (2005)	6% (2006)	NS
Childhood immunization
Children ages 19–35 months with the 4:3:1:3:3 combined series of vaccinations	80.8% (2005)	80.5% (2006)	NS
Oral health
Children ages 2–17 with a dental visit in the past year	76.2% (2005)	75.7% (2006)	NS
Physical Environment and Safety
Outdoor and indoor air quality
Children ages 0–17 living in counties in which levels of one or more air pollutants rose above allowable levels	60% (2005)	55% (2006)	NS
Drinking water quality
Children served by community water systems that did not meet all applicable health-based drinking water standards	12% (2005)	10% (2006)	NS
Lead in the blood of children
Median blood lead concentration for children ages 1–5	1.6µg/dL (2001–2002)	1.6 µg/dL (2003–2004)	NS
Housing problems
Households with children ages 0–17 reporting shelter cost burden, crowding, and/or physically inadequate housing	37% (2003)	40% (2005)
Youth victims of serious violent crimes
Serious violent crime victimization of youth ages 12–17	11 per 1,000 (2004)	14 per 1,000 (2005)	NS
Child injury and mortality
Injury deaths of children ages 1–4	12.9 per 100,000 (2004)	13.0 per 100,000 (2005)	NS
Injury deaths of children ages 5–14	8.2 per 100,000 (2004)	7.7 per 100,000 (2005)
Adolescent injury and mortality
Injury deaths of adolescents ages 15–19	51.3 per 100,000 (2004)	49.8 per 100,000 (2005)
Behavior
Regular cigarette smoking
Students who reported smoking daily over the past 30 days
8th-graders	4% (2006)	3% (2007)
10th-graders	8% (2006)	7% (2007)	NS
12th-graders	12.2 (2006)	12.3% (2007)	NS
Alcohol use
Students who reported having five or more alcoholic beverages in a row in the last 2 weeks
8th-graders	11% (2006)	10% (2007)	NS
10th-graders	21.9% (2006)	21.9% (2006)	NS
12th-graders	25% (2006)	26% (2007)	NS
Illicit drug use
Students who reported using illicit drugs over the past 30 days
8th-graders	8% (2006)	7% (2007)	NS
10th-graders	16.8% (2006)	16.9% (2007)	NS
12th-graders	21.5% (2006)	21.9% (2007)	NS
Sexual activity
High school students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse	46.7% (2003)	46.8% (2005)	NS
Youth perpetrators of serious violent crimes
Youth offenders ages 12–17 involved in serious violent crimes	14 per 1,000 (2004)	17 per 1,000 (2005)
Education
Family reading to young children
Children ages 3–5 who were read to every day in the last week by a family member	58% (2001)	60% (2005)	NS
Mathematics and reading achievement
Average mathematics scale score of
4th-graders (0–500 scale)	238 (2005)	240 (2007)
8th-graders (0–500 scale)	279 (2005)	281 (2007)
12th-graders (0–300 scale)	—	150 (2005)	N/A
Average reading scale score of
4th-graders (0–500 scale)	219 (2005)	221 (2007)
8th-graders (0–500 scale)	262 (2005)	263 (2007)
12th-graders (0–500 scale)	287 (2002)	286 (2005)	NS
High school academic coursetaking
High school graduates who completed high-level coursework in
Mathematics	45% (2000)	50% (2004)
Science	63% (2000)	68% (2004)
English	34% (2000)	33% (2004)	NS
Foreign language	30% (2000)	34% (2004)
High school completion
Young adults ages 18–24 who have completed high school	87.6% (2005)	87.8% (2006)	NS
Youth neither enrolled in school** nor working
Young adults ages 16–19 who are neither enrolled in school nor working	7.6% (2006)	7.8% (2007)	NS
Immediate college enrollment
Recent high school completers enrolled in college the October immediately after completing high school	69% (2005)	66% (2006)	NS
Health
Low birthweight
Infants weighing less than 5 lb. 8 oz. at birth	8.2% (2005)	8.3% (2006)
Infant mortality
Deaths before first birthday	6.8 per 1,000 (2004)	6.9 per 1,000 (2005)	NS
Emotional and behavioral difficulties
Children ages 4–17 reported by a parent to have definite or severe difficulties with emotions, concentration, behavior, or being able to get along with other people	4.6% (2005)	5.0% (2006)	NS
Activity limitation
Children ages 5–17 with activity limitation resulting from one or more chronic health conditions	8% (2005)	9% (2006)	NS
Overweight
Children ages 6–17 who are overweight	18% (2003–2004)	17% (2005–2006)	NS
Asthma
Children ages 0–17 who currently have asthma	8.9% (2005)	9.3% (2006)	NS
— Not available                                    N/A – Not applicable                                    NS – No statistically significant change –Statistically significant increase       – Statistically significant decrease
* Population estimates are not sample derived and therefore not subject to statistical testing. Change between years identifies differences in the proportionate size of these estimates as rounded. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
** School refers to both high school and college.