Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006
On Friday April 25th, the Workforce and Family Program will hosted the release of the Foundation for Child Development's Special Focus Report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," which presents the first wide-ranging picture of how children in their first decade of life are faring the the U.S. It is the first report to look comprehensively at the overall health, well-being, and quality of life of America's youngest children - from birth through eleven years old, using the FCD Child Well-Being Index (CWI), and to track and compare child well-being across three primary stages of development - early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.
Key findings of the report include:
- Overall improvements in the well-being index are reflected across all age groups – infant/early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence. Each age group follows very similar positive trends across this time period.
- The Health Domain overall is on a dramatic decline, dragged down by rising obesity rates and the number of babies born at low birth weight. Research has linked the latter to an increase in delayed childbearing among women and the use of fertility drugs that make multiple births with lower birth weights more likely. The prevalence of obesity among children 6-11 is nearly four times what it was in the 1960s; for children 2-5, it is three times more.
- Some areas of health show steady improvement, driven by declining infant and child death rates (attributed to better prenatal and health care, nutrition, and seat-belt laws), rates of mothers smoking during pregnancy, blood lead poisoning and increased vaccinations.
To read the Washington Post's front-page article about this Special Focus Report, please click here.
Improving the Lives of Children Essay Contest
$1,000 Prize for the Winning Essay
The New America Foundation is looking to draw attention to the needs of children and for the next generation of policy ideas to help kids. We are inviting all public and private high school seniors in Washington, D.C., to voice your opinions by writing and submitting an essay that answers the question: “You have just been elected the President of the United States. What is the most important thing you will do to improve the lives of America’s children?” Click here for more information.
Articles
| Article | Date |
|---|---|
| Continuing the Investment | November 19, 2007 |
| Serving Our Young Adults | October 15, 2007 |
| Teach Your Children About Interfaith | October 15, 2007 |
| Help Kids via Junk Food Tax | August 31, 2007 |
| The Case for Pre-K | July 18, 2007 |
| A Gift of Flexibility For Our Moms | May 10, 2007 |
| Is America Serious About Mental Health? | April 19, 2007 |
| Congress Needs an Interfaith Caucus | February 10, 2007 |
| Dreams of Motherhood | December 15, 2006 |
| New Urgency for Early-20s Single Moms | July 11, 2006 |
Policy Papers
| Title | Date |
|---|---|
| 10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB Reauthorization | November 2007 |
| The Stress of Balancing Work and Family | September 2007 |
| Why Not More Focus on Children? | July 2007 |
| No Worker Left Behind | June 2007 |
| How Research on Family Structure and Children's Development Can Inform Healthy Marriage Practitioners in the Field | December 2006 |
| Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren | September 2006 |
| Valuing Fathers | June 2006 |
| Honoring America's Entrepreneurial Culture | May 2006 |
| Mexikota: The Plain States' Run for the Border | April 2006 |
| More Attention Needs to be Paid to America's Workforce System | March 2006 |
Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Trends in the Well Being of Younger Children | April 25, 2008 |
| Racial and Ethnic Differences in Child Well-Being | January 29, 2008 |
| America’s Changing Social Contract | December 3, 2007 |
| Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century | November 28, 2007 |
| The Politics of Parental Leave | November 15, 2007 |
| Obesity and Child Well Being | October 4, 2007 |
| The Missing Class | October 1, 2007 |
| The Stress of Balancing Work and Family | September 19, 2007 |
| Child Well-Being in America and Abroad | July 17, 2007 |
| The Faith Line | June 27, 2007 |
Press
About This Program
Evolving family structures and the demands of the highly competitive global marketplace have put unprecedented pressures on American workers, their families and their employers. The Workforce and Family Program develops and promotes innovative, market-oriented solutions to help Americans succeed in their work and family commitments. Through a Child Well-Being Project, Workforce and Family Building Project and Work and Life Balance Project, the program builds consensus around new ways to strengthen families and empower Americans with the skills and flexibility they need to succeed in today’s economy.
The Workforce and Family Program's recent events and publications are featured in the tabs below; for a more-detailed program description, please click here.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Child Well-Being
Parents and policy makers have long looked to close the educational, health, economic and other gaps in child well-being between children of different backgrounds. As the 2008 campaign heats up, many are wondering about the increasingly diverse generation of America’s children and asking: Where is policy helping and failing to close the gaps between children of different backgrounds? Where do the gaps currently exist? What changes could have the greatest impact?
On Jan. 29, we hosted the release of a report that details some surprising results about the true state of the disparities between children, explains where improvements are being made, and where more work needs to be done. The report contains projections for when gaps between non-white and white children might be closed.
For more information on this event, please click here.
The Child Well-Being Index is funded by the Foundation for Child Development and coordinated by the Child Well-Being Index Project at Duke University.
The Workforce and Family Program appreciates the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Foundation for Child Development, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
