America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2019

Press Release

For Immediate Release
September 18, 2019

For more information contact:
Traci Cook
Children's Forum Staff Director
Phone: (301) 458-4082
Email: cot6@cdc.gov

Federal report on well-being of America's children and families is now available.
Infant mortality rates are highest for infants born to Black, non-Hispanic and American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic mothers; decreases in binge drinking among 12th graders continue.

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, an annual report of federal statistics on the health and well-being of America's children and families, is now available

This year’s report highlights that infant mortality rates have consistently been higher for infants born to Black, non-Hispanic and American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic mothers, despite declines in overall infant mortality, from 7 to 6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, between 1997 and 2017. In 2017, mortality rates for infants born to Black, non-Hispanic mothers were the highest with 11 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, followed by mortality rates for infants born to American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic mothers with 9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births and mortality rates for infants born to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic mothers with 8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. For infants born to Hispanics and White non-Hispanic mothers, mortality rates were the lowest, with 5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

There have been long-term declines in binge drinking by adolescents, dropping from 13% in 1996 to 4% in 2018 for 8th grade students, from 24% in 2000 to 9% in 2018 for 10th grade students, and from 32% in 1998 to 14% in 2018 for 12th grade students. More recently, binge drinking has leveled off for 8th graders and 10th graders, though declines continue for 12th graders. Binge drinking is defined in the report as five or more alcoholic beverages in a row or during a single occasion in the previous 2 weeks.

The 2019 America's Children report includes measures across seven domains: family and social environment, economic circumstance, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, health, and education. The report is published by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, currently comprising 23 federal government agencies involved in data collection, research and activities related to children and families.

Other highlights from this year's report include:

• Family and Social Environment: The birth rate among females 15 – 17 was down from 10 per 1,000 in 2015 to 8 per 1,000 in 2017, a record low,
• Economic Circumstances: The percentage of children who had at least one parent working year round, full time increased from 77% in 2016 to 78% in 2017.
• Health Care: In 2017, about 70% of children ages 19–35 months received the recommended combined 7-vaccine immunization series, not significantly different from 71% who received this vaccine series in 2016.
• Physical Environment and Safety: The rate at which youth were victims of serious violent crimes went up from 7 crimes per 1,000 in 2015 to 8 crimes per 1,000 in 2017, for youth ages 12–17.
• Education: In 2018, 8% of youth ages 16–19 were neither enrolled in school nor working, unchanged from the prior two years.

The full report is posted on www.childstats.gov. Single hard copies are available free from:

Government Printing Office
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel, MD 20707
laurelwms@gpo.gov