America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2017
America'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 | 73.6 million (2015) | 73.6 million (2016) | NS |
| Children as a percentage of the population1 | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in the United States | 22.9% (2015) | 22.8%(2016) |  |
| Racial and ethnic composition1 | |||
| Children ages 0–17 by race and Hispanic origin2 | |||
| White, non-Hispanic | 51.5% (2015) | 51.1% (2015) | |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 13.8% (2015) | 13.8% (2016) | NS |
| American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic | 0.9% (2015) | 0.9% (2016) | NS |
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 4.8% (2015) | 4.9% (2016) |  |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic | 0.2% (2015) | 0.2% (2016) | NS |
| Two or more races, non-Hispanic | 4.1% (2015) | 4.2% (2016) | |
| Hispanic | 24.7% (2015) | 24.9% (2016) | |
 Family and Social Environment |
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| Family structure and children's living arrangements | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with two married parents | 65% (2015) | 65% (2016) | NS |
| Births to unmarried women | |||
| Births to unmarried women ages 15–44 | 44 per 1,000 (2014) | 43 per 1,000 (2015) | |
| Births to unmarried women among all births | 40.2% (2014) | 40.3% (2015) | |
| Child care | |||
| Children ages 0–4, with employed mothers, whose primary child care arrangement is with a relative | 48% (2010) | 49% (2011) | NS |
| Children ages 3–6, not yet in kindergarten, who were in center-based care arrangements | 55% (2007) | 61% (2012) | |
| Children of at least one foreign-born parent | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with at least one foreign-born parent | 25% (2015) | 25% (2016) | NS |
| Language spoken at home and difficulty speaking English | |||
| Children ages 5–17 who speak a language other than English at home | 21.9% (2014) | 22.2% (2015) | |
| Children ages 5–17 who speak a language other than English at home and who have difficulty speaking English | 5% (2014) | 4% (2015) | NS |
| Adolescent births | |||
| Births to females ages 15–17 | 11 per 1,000 (2014) | 10 per 1,000 (2015) | |
| Child maltreatment1 | |||
| Substantiated reports of maltreatment of children ages 0–17 | 9.1 per 1,000 (2014) | 9.2 per 1,000 (2015) | |
| Economic Circumstances |
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| Child poverty and family income | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in poverty | 21% (2014) | 20% (2015) | |
| Children living in families with medium income | 28.4% (2014) | 27.6% (2015) | |
| Secure parental employment | |||
| Children ages 0–17 living with at least one parent employed year round, full time | 75% (2014) | 75% (2015) | NS |
| Food insecurity | |||
| Children ages 0–17 in households classified by USDA as "food insecure" | 21% (2014) | 18% (2015) | |
| Health Care |
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| Health insurance coverage | |||
| Children ages 0–17 who were uninsured at the time of interview | 5.4% (2014) | 4.5% (2015) | |
| Usual source of health care | |||
| Children ages 0–17 with no usual source of health care | 3.6% (2014) | 4.4% (2015) | |
| Immunization | |||
| Children ages 19–35 months with the 4:3:1:3*:3:1:4 combined series | 72% (2014) | 72% (2015) | NS |
| Oral health | |||
| Children ages 5–17 with a dental visit in the past year | 88% (2014) | 90% (2015) | |
| 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 | 59% (2014) | 59% (2015) | NS |
| Secondhand smoke | |||
| Children ages 4–11 with any detectable blood cotinine level, a measure for recent exposure to secondhand smoke | 42% (2009–2010) | 40% (2011–2012) | NS |
| Drinking water quality | |||
| Children served by community water systems that did not meet all applicable health-based drinking water standards | 6% (2014) | 7% (2015) | NS |
| Lead in the blood of children | |||
| Children ages 1–5 with blood lead greater than or equal to 5 µg/dL | 3% (2007–2010) | 1% (2011–2014) | NS |
| Housing problems | |||
| Households with children ages 0–17 reporting shelter cost burden, crowding, and/or physically inadequate housing | 40% (2013) | 39% (2015) | |
| Youth victims of serious violent crimes | |||
| Serious violent crime victimization of youth ages 12–17 | 7 per 1,000 (2014) | 7 per 1,000 (2015) | NS |
| Child injury and mortality | |||
| Injury deaths of children ages 1–4 | 10 per 100,000 (2014) | 11 per 100,000 (2015) | NS |
| Injury deaths of children ages 5–14 | 5 per 100,000 (2014) | 6 per 100,000 (2015) | NS |
| Adolescent injury and mortality | |||
| Injury deaths of adolescents ages 15–19 | 34 per 100,000 (2014) | 37 per 100,000 (2015) | |
| Behavior |
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| Regular cigarette smoking | |||
| Students who reported smoking daily in the past 30 days | |||
| 8th grade | 1.3% (2015) | 0.9% (2016) | |
| 10th grade | 3% (2015) | 2% (2016) | |
| 12th grade | 6% (2015) | 5% (2016) | NS |
| Alcohol use | |||
| Students who reported having 5 or more alcoholic beverages in a row in the past 2 weeks | |||
| 8th grade | 5% (2015) | 3% (2016) | |
| 10th grade | 11% (2015) | 10% (2016) | NS |
| 12th grade | 17% (2015) | 16% (2016) | NS |
| Illicit drug use | |||
| Students who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days | |||
| 8th grade | 8% (2015) | 7% (2016) | |
| 10th grade | 17% (2015) | 16% (2016) | NS |
| 12th grade | 24% (2015) | 24% (2016) | NS |
| Sexual activity | |||
| High school students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse | 47% (2013) | 41% (2015) | |
| Youth perpetrators of serious violent crimes | |||
| Youth offenders ages 12–17 involved in serious violent crimes | 7 per 1,000 (2014) | 8 per 1,000 (2015) | 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 | 83% (2007) | 83% (2012) | NS |
| Mathematics and reading achievement | |||
| Average mathematics scale score of | |||
| 4th-graders (0–500 scale) | 242 (2013) | 240 (2015) | |
| 8th-graders (0–500 scale) | 285 (2013) | 282 (2015) | |
| 12th-graders (0–300 scale) | 153 (2013) | 152 (2015) | |
| Average reading scale score of | |||
| 4th-graders (0–500 scale) | 222 (2013) | 223 (2015) | NS |
| 8th-graders (0–500 scale) | 268 (2013) | 265 (2015) | |
| 12th-graders (0–500 scale) | 288 (2013) | 287 (2015) | NS |
| High school completion | |||
| Young adults ages 18–24 who have completed high school | 92% (2014) | 93% (2015) | NS |
| Youth neither enrolled in school3 nor working | |||
| Youth ages 16–19 who are neither enrolled in school nor working | 9% (2015) | 8% (2016) | NS |
| College enrollment | |||
| Recent high school completers enrolled in college the October immediately after completing high school | 68% (2014) | 69% (2015) | NS |
| Health |
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| Preterm birth and low birthweight | |||
| Infants less than 37 weeks of gestation at birth | 10% (2014) | 10% (2015) | NS |
| Infants weighing less than 5 lb. 8 oz. at birth | 8.0% (2014) | 8.1% (2015) | |
| Infant mortality | |||
| Deaths before first birthday | 6.0 per 1,000 (2013) | 5.8 per 1,000 (2014) | |
| 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 | 5% (2014) | 6% (2015) | NS |
| Adolescent depression | |||
| Youth ages 12–17 with past-year Major Depressive Episode | 11% (2014) | 12% (2015) | |
| Activity limitation | |||
| Children ages 5–17 with activity limitation resulting from one or more chronic health conditions | 9% (2014) | 10% (2015) | NS |
| Obesity | |||
| Children ages 6–17 who had obesity | 19% (2007–2010) | 20% (2011–2014) | NS |
| Asthma | |||
| Children ages 0–17 who currently have asthma | 9% (2014) | 8% (2015) | NS |
| NS – No statistically significant change –Statistically significant increase – Statistically significant decrease |
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| 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 due to rounding. | |||
| 3 School refers to high school and college. | |||