America's Children at a Glance
To open each section click on the section name next to the arrow. To close each section click the section name again.
Previous Value (Year) | Most Recent Value (Year) | Change Between Years | |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
|||
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 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) | ![]() |
![]() |
|||
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 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) | ![]() |
![]() |
|||
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) | ![]() |
![]() |
|||
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 |
![]() |
|||
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 |
![]() |
|||
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)2d> | 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 ![]() ![]() |
|||
* 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. |