America's Children - How Are They Doing?
Recent Statistics on Child Abuse and Neglect
The number of children reported abused and neglected in 1995 represents an approximate 331% increase in the last two decades. As of 1994, the annual growth rate of reporting had leveled off to about 3% over the last five years (NCANDS, 1997).
After investigating the reports, more than 1,000,000 children were confirmed as victims of actual abuse situations in 1995 (NCANDS, 1997). In other cases, there simply may not have been enough information for substantiation.
NCANDS reports that 996 children died in 1995 as a result of abuse and/or neglect (NCANDS, 1997). An estimated 5,400 child maltreatment deaths occurred from 1990 to 1994. The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect estimates that approximately 2,000 children die each year as a result of child abuse and neglect-that is, 5 children every day (U.S. Advisory Board, 1995).
Each year 18,000 children are permanently disabled as a result of near-fatal abuse and neglect; in 1990 alone, 141,700 infants and children were seriously injured from severe abuse (U.S. Advisory Board, 1995).
Shaken Baby Syndrome kills 20-25% of its infant victims; most survivors suffer brain damage. Head trauma is the leading cause of child maltreatment fatalities (U.S. Advisory Board, 1995).
In 1994, 76% of states reported substance abuse as one of the top two problems facing families reported for abuse and/or neglect, a dramatic 63% increase in the past two years (NCPCA, 1995).
During 1995, it was estimated that 483,000 children were in out-of-home care, (e.g., family foster care and residential group care) in the United States. Early projections put that FY96 number at 502,000 (APWA, 1997).
Violent Crime Is the Ultimate Abuse of Our Children
Every day, 16 children and youth younger than age 20 are killed by guns (CDF, 1997).
In 1994, 2,661 children were reported as victims of homicide while more than 1.6 million youth between 12 and 17 years old reported they were the victims of violent crime (CDF, 1997).
In 1993, 5,751 children under age 20 died as a result of gun violence (CDF, 1997).
Gun-related accidents killed 526 children in 1993 (CDF, 1997).
The Lack of Adequate Health Care Also Affects the Well-Being of Children
288,482 infants born in the U.S. in 1993 were low birthweight babies, weighing less than 5.5 pounds. That means 7.2% of infants were born at low birthweight. Low birthweight babies have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems (KIDSCOUNT, 1996).
In 1994, 8 out of 1,000 babies died before their first birthday in the U.S. (CDF, 1997).
Progress is being made to immunize all children against vaccine-preventable diseases, with approximately 75% of 2-year-olds fully covered in 1995 (CDF, 1997).
In 1995, approximately 9.8 million children in the U.S. (or 1 in 7) had no health care insurance. Of these children, 88% have working parents, with 64% of parents working full-time, year-round (CDF, 1997).
In 1994, there were 518,389 births to teen mothers with the rate of births to teenage girls, ages 15-19, being 58.9 per 1,000 (CDF, 1997).
Although early prenatal care has increased significantly over the past five years, only 80.2% of births in 1994 were to women who received prenatal care starting in the first three months of their pregnancy (CDF, 1997).
In 1994, AIDS was the 6th leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, but the 3rd leading cause of death for Black females and 4th for Black males in that same age group (CDF, 1997).
Through June 30, 1996, 7,298 children under age 13 had been diagnosed with AIDS. Ninety-one percent of these children were infected through perinatal transmission from their mothers (CDC, 1996).
Educational Services Are Also Falling Short of Expectations for Children
Only one in three eligible children in the U.S. are able to participate in Head Start programs (CDF, 1997).
In 1994, 44% of fourth-grade public school students were reading below the basic achievement level. In 1992, 29% of these students had math scores below the basic achievement level (CDF, 1996). By age 20, 86% of all young people have graduated from high school (CDF, 1996).
Poverty and Homelessness Are Pervasive Problems that Contribute to Abuse and Neglect of Children
Children are the poorest citizens of the United States. In 1995, 14.7 million U.S. children (or 21% of all children) were poor (CDF, 1997). More than 1 out of every 4 children (25%) under age 6 were living in poverty in 1995 (CDF, 1997). African-American and Latino children are more likely to be poor than Caucasian children (CDF, 1996). The U.S. child poverty rate is highest among 18 First World industrialized countries: 21.5% (CDF, 1996).
Poor families with children in 1995 received twice as much income from work as from welfare (CDF, 1997). In 1994, 5.6 million children lived in poverty despite the fact that one or both of their parents worked all year (KIDSCOUNT, 1996). The "poverty" standard for a family of four in 1995 was $15,569 (CDF, 1997). Approximately 8 million children live in families whose income is below or no more than 25% above that poverty line (KIDSCOUNT, 1996). In 1994, half of the 5.6 million "working-poor kids" lived in married, two-parent households where at least one parent (usually the father) worked all year (KIDSCOUNT, 1996).
A child born to an unmarried, teenage, high school dropout is 10 times as likely to be living in poverty as a child born to a mother with none of these characteristics. Also, teens who have babies seldom receive adequate support from the fathers of the children. More than half (51%) of the fathers of children born to females under age 18 were in their twenties (KIDSCOUNT, 1996).
In 1996, the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported, based on surveys from 29 cities, that families with children comprised 38% of our homeless population (CDF, 1997).
