America's children 2003

Excerpts from report:

“America's children: Key national indicators of well-being, 2003,” developed by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, is the seventh annual synthesis of information on the status of the Nation's most valuable resource, our children. This report presents 25 key indicators of the well-being of children. These indicators are monitored through official Federal statistics covering children’s economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education.

The report is divided into two parts. The first part of the report presents data that illustrate the changes that have taken place during the past few decades in nine measures depicting the context of children's lives. These background measures provide a foundation for understanding the key indicators and the child population. They provide basic information about children in the United States and the social and demographic changes occurring in the child population The second part contains data on key indicators of how well we are doing in providing economic security, educational opportunity, and a healthy and safe environment in which children can play, learn, and grow. Unlike the data presented in Part I of the report, which simply describe the changing context in which children live, the data in Part II offer insight into how well children are faring by providing information in four key areas of child well-being: economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education.