NCJ Number
210533
Date Published
July 2005
Length
195 pages
Annotation
This biennial report presents 2005 data on key indicators of continuing interest that measure critical aspects of children's lives in America.
Abstract
The data presented on the indicators have been regularly and rigorously collected by various Federal agencies. The report is divided into two parts. The first part, "Population and Family Characteristics," presents data that show the changes in nine measures that depict the context of children's lives. These background measures provide basic information on children in the United States and the social and demographic changes that have occurred in the U.S. child population. The second part of the report, "Indicators of Children's Well-Being," presents data on four key areas of child well-being: economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education. Indicators of economic security include child poverty and family income, secure parental employment, housing problems, food security and diet quality, and access to health care. Health indicators address general health, activity limitation, overweight, childhood immunizations, low birth weight, infant and child mortality, adolescent mortality, and births to adolescents. Behavior and social environment indicators are regular cigarette smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use, and youth victims and perpetrators of serious violent crime. Education indicators include family members reading to children, early childhood care and education, mathematics and reading achievement, high school completion, youth neither enrolled in school nor working, and youth in higher education. This year's report has special features on children with asthma, children with specified blood lead levels, and parental reports of children's emotional and behavioral difficulties. The report also contains a special section on family structure and the well-being of children. Extensive tables and figures and appended data source descriptions
Date Published: July 1, 2005