Forum on Child and Family StatisticsAmerica's Children at a Glance
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| Previous Value (Year) | Most Recent Value (Year) | Change Between Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Demographic Background |
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| Child population1 | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in the United States | 74.2 million (2020) | 73.6 million (2021) |  |
| Children as a percentage of the population1 | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in the United States | 22.4% (2020) | 22.2% (2021) | |
| Racial and ethnic composition1 | |||
| Children ages 0–17 by race and Hispanic origin2 | |||
| White, non-Hispanic | 49.7% (2020) | 49.4% (2021) | |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 13.7% (2020) | 13.8% (2021) |  |
| American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic | 0.8% (2020) | 0.8% (2021) | NS |
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 5.4% (2020) | 5.4% (2021) | NS |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic | 0.2% (2020) | 0.2% (2021) | NS |
| Two or more races, non-Hispanic | 4.6% (2020) | 4.7% (2021) | |
| Hispanic | 25.6% (2020) | 25.7% (2021) | |
 Family and Social Environment |
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| Family structure and children's living arrangements | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with two married parents | 67% (2020) | 65% (2021) | |
| Births to unmarried women | |||
| Births to unmarried women ages 15–44 | 40 per 1,000 (2019) | 39 per 1,000 (2020) | |
| Births to unmarried women among all births | 40% (2019) | 41% (2020) | |
| Child care | |||
| Children ages 3–5, not yet enrolled in kindergarten with employed mothers, whose primary child care arrangement was nonparental care on a regular basis | 85% (2016) | 86% (2019) | NS |
| Children ages 3–5, not yet enrolled in kindergarten with employed mothers, who were in center-based care arrangements for any amount of time | 70% (2016) | 69% (2019) | NS |
| Children of at least one foreign-born parent | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with at least one foreign-born parent | 25% (2020) | 25% (2021) | NS |
| Language spoken at home and difficulty speaking English | |||
| Children ages 5–17 who speak a language other than English at home | 23% (2018) | 23% (2019) | NS |
| Children ages 5–17 who speak a language other than English at home and who have difficulty speaking English | 4% (2018) | 4% (2019) | NS |
| Adolescent births | |||
| Births to females ages 15–17 | 7 per 1,000 (2019) | 6 per 1,000 (2020) | |
| Child maltreatment1 | |||
| Substantiated reports of maltreatment of children ages 0–17 | 8.9 per 1,000 (2019) | 8.4 per 1,000 (2020) | |
| Economic Circumstances |
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| Child poverty and family income | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in poverty | 14.4% (2019) | 16.1% (2020) | |
| Children living in families in extreme poverty | 6.2% (2019) | 7.6% (2020) | |
| Secure parental employment | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with at least one parent employed year-round, full-time | 80.2% (2019) | 71.7% (2020) | |
| Food insecurity | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in households classified by the USDA as "food insecure" | 15% (2019) | 16% (2020) | |
| Health Care |
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| Health insurance coverage | |||
| Children ages 0–17 who were uninsured at the time of interview | 5% (2019) | 5% (2020) | NS |
| Usual source of health care | |||
| Children ages 0–17 with no usual source of health care | 3% (2019) | 2% (2020) | NS |
| Immunization | |||
| Children ages 24 months with the combined 7-vaccine series | 70% (2016)3 | 70% (2017)3 | NS |
| Oral health | |||
| Children ages 5–17 with a dental visit in the past year | 91% (2019) | 89% (2020) | |
| Physical Environment and Safety |
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| Outdoor air quality | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living in counties with pollutant concentrations above the levels of the current air quality standards | 64.1% (2018) | 50.5% (2019) | |
| Secondhand smoke | |||
| Children ages 4–11 with any detectable blood cotinine level, a measure for recent exposure to secondhand smoke | 37% (2015–2016) | 36% (2017–2018) | NS |
| Drinking water quality | |||
| Children served by community water systems that did not meet all applicable health-based drinking water standards | 9% (2018) | 7% (2019) | NS |
| Lead in the blood of children | |||
| Children ages 1–5 with blood lead greater than or equal to 5 µg/dL | 2.6% (2007–2010) | 0.8% (2013–2018) | |
| Housing problems | |||
| Households with children ages 0–17 reporting shelter cost burden, crowding, and/or physically inadequate housing | 39% (2017) | 38% (2018) | |
| Youth victims of serious violent crimes4 | |||
| Serious violent crime victimization of youth ages 12–17 | 6 per 1,000 (2019) | 4 per 1,000 (2020) | NS |
| Child injury and mortality | |||
| Injury deaths of children ages 1–4 | 9 per 100,000 (2019) | 10 per 100,000 (2020) | |
| Injury deaths of children ages 5–14 | 6 per 100,000 (2019) | 7 per 100,000(2020) | |
| Adolescent injury and mortality | |||
| Injury deaths of adolescents ages 15–19 | 37 per 100,000 (2019) | 46 per 100,000 (2020) | |
| Behavior |
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| Regular cigarette smoking | |||
| Students who reported smoking daily in the past 30 days | |||
| 8th grade | 0.8% (2020) | 0.4% (2021) | NS |
| 10th grade | 1% (2020) | 1% (2021) | NS |
| 12th grade | 3% (2020) | 2% (2021) | NS |
| Alcohol use | |||
| Students who reported having 5 or more alcoholic beverages in a row in the past 2 weeks | |||
| 8th grade | 5% (2020) | 3% (2021) | |
| 10th grade | 10% (2020) | 6% (2021) | |
| 12th grade | 17% (2020) | 12% (2021) | |
| Illicit drug use | |||
| Students who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days | |||
| 8th grade | 9% (2020) | 6% (2021) | |
| 10th grade | 18% (2020) | 11% (2021) | |
| 12th grade | 22% (2020) | 21% (2021) | NS |
| Sexual activity | |||
| High school students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse | 40% (2017) | 38% (2019) | NS |
| Youth perpetrators of serious violent crimes4 | |||
| Youth offenders ages 12–17 involved in serious violent crimes | 5 per 1,000 (2019) | 4 per 1,000 (2020) | NS |
| Education |
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| Family reading to young children | |||
| Children ages 3–5 who were read to 3 or more times in the last week | 81% (2016) | 85% (2019) | |
| Mathematics and reading achievement | |||
| Average mathematics scale score of | |||
| 4th-graders (0–500 scale) | 240 (2017) | 241 (2019) | |
| 8th-graders (0–500 scale) | 283 (2017) | 282 (2019) | |
| 12th-graders (0–300 scale) | 152 (2015) | 150 (2019) | NS |
| Average reading scale score of | |||
| 4th-graders (0–500 scale) | 222 (2017) | 220 (2019) | |
| 8th-graders (0–500 scale) | 267 (2017) | 263 (2019) | |
| 12th-graders (0–500 scale) | 287 (2015) | 285 (2019) | |
| High school completion | |||
| Young adults ages 18–24 who have completed high school | 94% (2019) | 94% (2020) | NS |
| Youth neither enrolled in school5 nor working | |||
| Youth ages 16–19 who are neither enrolled in school nor working | 10% (2020) | 9% (2021) | |
| College enrollment | |||
| Recent high school completers enrolled in college the October immediately after completing high school | 66% (2019) | 63% (2020) | NS |
| Health |
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| Preterm birth and low birthweight | |||
| Infants less than 37 completed weeks of gestation at birth | 10.2% (2019) | 10.1% (2020) | |
| Infants weighing less than 5 lb 8 oz at birth | 8.3% (2019) | 8.2% (2020) | |
| Infant mortality | |||
| Deaths before first birthday | 6 per 1,000 (2018) | 6 per 1,000 (2019) | NS |
| Emotional and behavioral difficulties | |||
| Children ages 4–17 reported by a parent to have serious difficulties with emotions, concentration, behavior, or getting along with other people | 6% (2018) | 6%* (2019) | NC |
| Adolescent depression | |||
| Youth ages 12–17 with past-year major depressive episode | 16% (2019) | 17%** (2020) | NC |
| Activity limitation | |||
| Children ages 5–17 with activity limitation resulting from one or more chronic health conditions | 11% (2017) | 10% (2018) | NS |
| Obesity | |||
| Children ages 6–17 with obesity | 20% (2011–2014) | 20% (2015–2018) | NS |
| Asthma | |||
| Children ages 0–17 who currently have asthma | 8% (2018) | 7% (2019)* | NC |
| NS – No statistically significant change NC – Not calculated –Statistically significant increase – Statistically significant decrease |
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| * Caution: Due to survey redesign, 2019 estimates should not be compared with data from earlier years. | |||
| ** Due to methodological changes between 2019 and 2020, exercise caution when comparing estimates from 2020 with prior years. | |||
| 1 Population estimates are not sample derived and thus not subject to statistical testing. Change between years identifies differences in the proportionate size of these estimates. | |||
| 2 Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding. | |||
| 3 Data years refer to birth years of children receiving vaccinations. | |||
| 4 The 2020 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) weights include an additional adjustment to address the impact of modified field operations due to COVID-19. For more information on the weighting adjustments applied in 2020, see the Source and Accuracy Statement for the 2020 NCVS in the NCVS 2020 Codebook (https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/series/95) and Criminal Victimization, 2020 (NCJ 301775, BJS, October 2021). | |||
| 5 School refers to high school and college. | |||
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
