AIR Helps Produce Federal Report on the Well-Being of America’s Children

Washington, D.C. – Experts with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) played a key role in producing America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2015, a biennial report focusing on children up to 17 years old. The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics released the report.

The report uses data from nationally representative, federally sponsored surveys, grouped by seven areas (family and social environment; economic circumstances; health care; physical environment and safety; behavior; education; and health) with a special focus on health care quality. Presenting timely data and topics, the report provides statistics on children’s lives in a nontechnical, easy-to-understand format.

AIR staff worked on many aspects of the publication, including quality control reviews, data management and data checks. Those involved included Katie Mallory, Allison Dziuba, Susan Armstrong, and Melissa Diliberti.

Key findings include:

• In 2014, 52 percent of U.S. children were non-Hispanic whites; 24 percent were Hispanic; 14 percent were non-Hispanic blacks; 5 percent were non-Hispanic Asians; and 5 percent were non-Hispanic “all other races.”
• The percentage of Hispanic children has experienced substantial growth, increasing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 24 percent in 2014. By 2020, less than half of all children are projected to be non-Hispanic white.
• Twenty percent of children ages 0–17 lived in poverty in 2013, down from 22 percent in 2012. This was the first time since 2000 that the child poverty rate declined.
• In 2013, 11 percent of non-Hispanic white children lived in poverty, compared with 39 percent of non-Hispanic black children and 30 percent of Hispanic children.
• The share of children without health insurance decreased from 14 percent in 1993 to 7 percent in 2013. In 2013, about 53 percent of children were covered by private health insurance and 38 percent were covered by public health insurance.
• The percentage of children who were unable to receive or were delayed in receiving medical care, dental care or prescription drugs declined from 6 percent in 2002 to 4 percent in 2012.
• In 2014, the percentages of eighth, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who reported smoking cigarettes daily in the past 30 days were the lowest since 1980. In 2014, 1 percent of eighth grade students, 3 percent of 10th-grade students and 7 percent of 12th-grade students reported smoking cigarettes daily in the past 30 days, compared with their respective peaks in the mid-1990s of 10 percent, 18 percent and 25 percent.

To see the full report, visit childstats.gov.

About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.

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