EMBARGO UNTIL: 12:01 A.M., EST, OCTOBER 31, 2000 (TUESDAY) Public Information Office CB00-181 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e:mail: pio@census.gov Kristin Smith 301-457-2416 Census Bureau Says 7 Million Grade-School Children Home Alone About 7 million children 5 to 14 years old were regularly left unsupervised in 1995 while their parents were at work or away for other reasons, according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. "Children caring for themselves spent an average of six hours per week doing so," said Census Bureau analyst Kristin Smith, author of Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Fall 1995. "Fifty percent of them spent less than five hours per week without adult supervision, and 13 percent spent more than 10 hours a week unsupervised." Self-care was much more prevalent among middle school-age children than among those in elementary schools. Nine percent of children (2.4 million) ages 5 to 11 and 41 percent of children (4.4 million) ages 12 to 14 regularly cared for themselves. The proportion of children in self-care ranged from 2 percent among 5-year-olds to 48 percent among 14-year-olds. Other highlights of the report: All children - Employed women with children under 15 years of age who made cash payments for child care found that these payments have edged upward. In 1995, their families paid an average $85 per week for child care. That was up from $59 (constant 1995 dollars) in 1985. - Poor families who paid for child care in 1995 spent 35 percent of their budget on it, five times the proportion spent by nonpoor families (those with income above the poverty line). Preschoolers - Parental care of preschoolers became less common between 1991 and 1995. The proportion cared for primarily by their fathers while their mothers worked declined from a high of 20 percent in 1991 to 17 percent in 1995; similarly, the percentage cared for primarily by mothers while they, the mothers, worked fell from 9 percent to 5 percent over the same period. - When all child-care arrangements are included -- primary and supplemental -- 50 percent of preschoolers were regularly cared for by a relative, with grandparents, at 30 percent, the single most frequently mentioned care provider among relatives. Meanwhile, 49 percent were cared for by a nonrelative on a regular basis, with the highest in this category, 30 percent, in an organized facility. The difference between the percent cared for by a relative and a nonrelative was not statistically significant. - Multiple child-care arrangements are common. In 1995, 44 percent of preschoolers regularly spent time in more than one type of arrangement per week. Grade-schoolers - Grade school-age children were more likely to care for themselves if they lived with a single father (31 percent) than a single mother (17 percent). Additionally, the chances of self-care increased with family income -- from 11 percent of children in poverty to 22 percent of those with family incomes at least double the poverty line. - About 4 in 10 of all grade school-age children participated in enrichment activities, including sports, lessons, clubs and before- or after-school programs. - On average, children ages 5 to 14 with parents who were employed or in school were cared for in a mix of 3.4 arrangements per week. Children whose parents were neither employed nor in school were cared for in an average of 1.6 arrangements. The report shows the number and characteristics of children in different child-care arrangements, including those in more than one type of arrangement. It also shows the characteristics of their families, contrasting the arrangements for preschool- and grade school-age children. For the first time in a Census Bureau child-care report, data are presented on arrangements used while parents are not at work or in school. The data are from the fall 1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.-X-
