America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007

Data on Race and Ethnicity

Most indicators in the 2007 America's Children report include data tabulated by race and ethnicity. In 1997, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued revised standards for data on race and ethnicity (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/1997standards.html). Agencies were given a transition period to implement these revised standards with all changes to take place by January 2003. The revised standards include several important changes.

First, the standards stated that when practical and feasible, respondents should be given the opportunity to self-report their race and ethnicity. Second, the standards stated that a two-question format is the preferred approach for collecting data on race and ethnicity and that when a two-question format is used, collection of data on Hispanic origin should come first, followed by a question on race. Third, the racial categories were expanded from four racial groups (White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander) to five racial groups (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). And fourth, the standards stated that survey respondents should be given the opportunity to select one or more of the five racial groups.

These last two changes—expansion of the racial categories and the option to report multiple races—have a direct impact on many of the indicators presented in this report, particularly with respect to trend analyses. The data collection systems used in this report implemented the revised standards at different times. Changes to racial and ethnic data collection still do not assure that sample sizes will be sufficient to report data for all categories. As has always been the case, some indicators will have more detailed data on race and ethnicity than others.

In this report, where feasible, the recommended categories for race and ethnicity include White, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; Two or more races; and Hispanic. Detailed information on data collection methods for race and ethnicity are provided in footnotes at the end of each table. Some additional information can be found in the Data Source Descriptions section of the report. The Forum strives to have consistent reporting of racial and ethnic data across indicators for clarity and continuity.