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

Indicators Needed

Family and Social Environment

Current data collection systems at the national level do not provide extensive detailed information on children's families, their caregivers, or their environment. Certain topical databases provide some of this information, but data need to be collected across domains of child well-being regularly enough to discern trends in where, how, and with whom children spend their time. More details also are needed on the following topics:

• Family structure and interactions. Increasing the detail of information collected about family structure and improving the measurement of cohabitation and family dynamics were among the key suggestions for improvement emerging from two "Counting Couples" workshops sponsored by the Forum. More information on the workshops is available under publications.
• Time use. Currently, some Federal surveys collect information on the amount of time children spend on certain activities, such as watching television, and on participation rates in specific activities or care arrangements, but no Federal data source examines time spent on the whole spectrum of children's activities. In 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing. The survey includes responses from persons age 15 and older. There are currently 3 years of data available, from 2003 through 2005. Since the numbers of observations for older youths are small, the data cannot be published separately for each year. This data limitation, along with the lack of historical data, precludes the ATUS data from being included as a regular indicator in the America's Children report at this time. Forum agencies continue to be interested in the inclusion of time use questions for youth in other surveys.