National Adoption Week was first proclaimed in Massachusetts in 1976. The number of states that designated a special week to recognize the practice of adoption gradually increased, leading to National Adoption Month in 1990. The purpose of National Adoption Month is to focus attention on the increasing number of children in the child welfare system waiting to be adopted. Each year, the president joins the adoption community across the country in proclaiming November as a month when Americans should be aware of adoption as a way to build a family. This year, Nov. 20 will be National Adoption Day.

Children
1.6 million
Number of adopted children (under 18) of householders. These children comprise 2.5 percent of all children (under 18) of householders. An additional 473,000 adopted children of householders are 18 and over, again representing 2.5 percent of all householder children in that age group.

3.9%
Percentage of children under 18 in Alaska who are adopted, the highest of any state.

90
Number of adopted boys for every 100 adopted girls under 18. Conversely, among biological children in this age group, the ratio is 106 boys for every 100 girls.

16%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who are black. Additionally, 7 percent are Asian and 2 percent are American Indian and Alaska native. Adopted children are more likely to be of these race groups than are biological children or stepchildren.

17%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who are of a different race than the householder. This compares with 11 percent of stepchildren and 7 percent of biological children.

Foreign-born
13%
Percentage of adopted children who are foreign-born. The corresponding rate for biological children and stepchildren is 4 percent.

48,000
Number of foreign-born adopted children under 18 from Korea. Korea is the largest single-country source of such children, accounting for nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of them. Overall, nearly half of foreign-born adopted children of all ages are from Asia.

21,616
Number of immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States for adoption in
2003, up from 7,377 a decade earlier. The leading sources of these orphans are China and Russia. <http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption_resources_02.html>

82%
Percentage of European-born adopted children under 6 who are from Russia or Romania.

Households
1.7 million
Number of households that contain adopted children. These households comprise 4 percent of all households in which the householder has children.

Among households that contain adopted children of the householder, 82 percent have just one adopted child, while 15 percent have two and 3 percent have three or more.

43
Average age of householders with adopted children. These householders’ average age is about 5 years older than householders with biological children or stepchildren.

$56,000
Median income for households with adopted children under 18, higher than those with biological children and stepchildren, $48,000 and $51,000, respectively.

33%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who live with a householder who has at least a bachelor’s degree. This compares with 26 percent for biological children and 16 percent for stepchildren.

78%
Percentage of adopted children under 18 who live in homes that are owned by their adoptive parents. The percentage of biological children and stepchildren under 18 in homes owned by their parents is 67 percent.

Unless otherwise noted, further information on the data in this edition of Facts for Features may be obtained at <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001281.html>.