Abstract
The general question addressed in this volume is: Are the circumstances of life for children and youth in the United States bad and worsening, or good and improving? In terms of the concepts articulated in Chap. 1, the question becomes: Has the well-being of America’s children improved or deteriorated?
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Notes
- 1.
The names/labels given to the domains in Table 2.1 are those currently used in the CWI annual reports. Slight variations on these names have been used in some prior publications and annual reports. Detailed descriptions of the indicators and graphs of their trends over time are given in the next section of this chapter. A table in the Appendix at the end of this chapter cites the sources for all of the data series on which the indicators are based.
- 2.
- 3.
We also experimented with the application of other formulas for index construction (e.g., a geometric rather than an arithmetic mean). In general, these other formulas show patterns of over-time changes in overall child and youth well-being that are similar to those reported in this chapter from the application of Eq. 2.1. That is, in general, alternative formulas show patterns of stable or declining child and youth well-being through the late 1980s or early 1990s followed by increases. These patterns could, of course, be changed by the application of an unequally weighted index formula to the seven domains of well-being identified in the text. The general guidance available on weighting from empirical studies of the quality of life (see, e.g., Hagerty et al. 2001) suggests that the emotional well-being and social relationships domains are of primary importance. Given the trends in the Key Indicators described later in Chap. 3, the application of an index formula that gives additional weight to these domains would result in greater declines in the index values through the early 1990s.
- 4.
Prior to application of Eq. 2.1 to the component time series, each series is oriented so that an increase indicates an improvement and a decrease indicates a deterioration in the condition measured by the indicator. For instance, consider the case of the percent of children living in families with secure parental employment (see Table 2.1). For this time series, an increase in the indicator series is indicative of an improvement in the material well-being circumstances of children’s lives, which the indicators in the material well-being domain are intended to measure. By contrast, a decrease in the infant mortality rate (see Table 2.1) is indicative of an improvement in the health circumstances of children’s lives that the indicators in the health domain are intended to measure. Thus, for those time series for which a decline is indicative of an improvement in the series, we first subtract the value observed for the rate in a current year from the value in the base year. Then, we compute the ratio of this difference to the value of the rate in the base year and add this ratio to 100 to obtain the percent improvement in the time series relative to the base year.
- 5.
General issues in composite index construction are discussed in Chap. 6.
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Appendix Sources of Data for the Child and Youth Well-Being Index
Appendix Sources of Data for the Child and Youth Well-Being Index
Child poverty | US Bureau of the Census, March Population Survey, Current Population Reports, Consumer Income, Series P-60, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov3.html, 1975–present |
Secure parental employment | US Bureau of the Census, March Current Population Survey, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. Available from Forum on Child and Family Statistics, http://childstats.ed.gov/americaschildren/tables/econ2.asp, 1980–present. Special tabulation from CPS CD 1975–1979 |
Median annual income | US Bureau of the Census, March Current Population Survey, Historical Income Tables—Families, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/f10ar.html, 1975–present |
Health insurance | US Bureau of the Census, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, unpublished tabulations from the March Current Populations Surveys, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. Special tabulation by Federal Interagency Forum. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/historic/hihistt3.html, 1987–present |
Infant mortality | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Monthly Vital Statistics Report (v25–v46), National Vital Statistics Report (v47–v49): Hyattsville, MD: NCHS. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_19.pdf, 1975–present |
Low birth weight | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Report of Final Natality Statistics, Monthly Vital Statistics Reports (1975–1996), National Vital Statistics Reports (1997–present). Hyattsville, MD: NCHS. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelimbirths04/prelimbirths04health.htm |
Child and adolescent mortality | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Leading Causes of Death. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_19.pdf, 1975–present |
Subjective health and activity limitations | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. www.cdc.gov/nchs. Available from Forum on Child and Family Statistics, http://www.childstats.gov/, 1984–present |
Obesity | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Health United States, 2003 and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Hyattsville, MD. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/tables/2003/03hus069.pdf, 1975–present. Data for 1999–2000, 2001–2002, and 2003–2004 from C.L. Ogden et al. (2006) JAMA, 295(13): 1549–1555 |
Teen births | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System. Monthly Vital Statistics Reports (1975–1996), National Vital Statistics Reports (1997–present). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm |
Crime victimization | US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, and FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/vagetab.htm, 1975–present |
Violent crime offenders | US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/, 1975–present |
Smoking, drinking, and drugs | The Monitoring the Future Study, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI. www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/data.html, 1975–present |
Reading and mathematics scores | US Department of Education Statistics, National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard, 1975–present |
High school completion | US Bureau of the Census, October Current Population Surveys, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/school/TableA-5a.xls, 1975–present |
Not working and not in school | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Surveys, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. Available from Forum on Child and Family Statistics, http://www.childstats.gov/, 1985–present. Special tabulation from CPS CD, 1975–1984 |
Preschool enrollment | US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics and Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey. http://www.nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_006.asp, 1980–present, interpolated years 1976–1979 |
Bachelor’s degree | US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Condition of Education. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2005/pdf/07_2005.pdf, 1975–present |
Voting in presidential elections | US Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, Voting and Registration, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting/cps2004.html, 1975–present |
Single-parent families | US Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Marital Status and Living Arrangements, Annual Reports. http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ch1.pdf, 1975–present |
Residential mobility | US Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, Geographic Mobility, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/migrate.html, 1975–present |
Suicide | CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System. www.cdc.gov/nchs//datawh/statab/unpubd/mortabs.htm, 1975–present |
Church attendance and importance | The Monitoring the Future Study, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI. http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/, 1975–present |
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Land, K.C., Lamb, V.L., Meadows, S. (2012). Conceptual and Methodological Foundations of the Child and Youth Well-Being Index. In: Land, K. (eds) The Well-Being of America's Children. Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4092-1_2
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