Social Issues Affecting America's Children - America's Children: Indicators Of Well-being

The well-being of America's children improved in many respects during the early years of the twenty-first century, according to the seventh annual Federal Inter-agency Forum on Child and Family Statistics report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2003. Teenage pregnancies reached a record low and teen violence dropped dramatically over the past decade. The proportion of children ages three to five enrolled in primary education rose nineteen percentage points, and high school completion rates improved slightly. Infant and childhood death rates continued to decline, adolescent smoking decreased, and fewer children were exposed to the hazards of secondhand smoke. On the other hand, more children were overweight, the incidence of low birth weight infants increased, the number of children living in crowded housing conditions increased, and fewer children had at least one parent with full-time employment.

The Children's Defense Fund offered a different perspective in The State of America's Children 2004. The organization reported that one in six children in the United States continued to live in poverty and one in eight—9.3 million—children had no health insurance. An estimated three million children were suspected victims of child abuse and neglect. Only 31% of fourth graders read at or above grade level and almost one in ten teens aged sixteen to nineteen was a school dropout. Eight children or teenagers died from gunfire every day.