Children In America Research Articles

Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective. By Lee Rainwater and Timothy M. Smeeding. Russell Sage Foundation, 2003.263 pp. Cloth, $39.95

Journal Article Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective. By Lee Rainwater and Timothy M. Smeeding. Russell Sage Foundation, 2003.263 pp. Cloth, $39.95 Get access Daniel T. Lichter Daniel T. Lichter Ohio State University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Forces, Volume 83, Issue 3, March 2005, Pages 1294–1296, https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2005.0038 Published: 01 March 2005

Developing and Deploying a New Member of the Dental Team: A Pediatric Oral Health Therapist

There are inadequate numbers of dentists able and willing to treat America's children, specifically children from low income and minority populations. This has led to the well-publicized disparities in oral health among children. In the early part of the 20th century New Zealand faced a significant problem with oral disease among its children and introduced a School Dental Service, staffed by allied dental professionals with two years' training in caring for the teeth of children, "school dental nurses." A significant number of countries have adopted the model. This article reviews the history of attempts to develop such an approach in the United States. It advocates for the development and deployment of pediatric oral health therapists as a means of addressing the disparities problem that exists in America with such individuals being trained in children's dentistry in a two-year academic program. The article asserts that adding a pediatric oral health therapist to the dental team is one way in which the profession of dentistry can fulfill its moral obligation to care for the oral health of America's children and ensure that all children are treated justly. Recently, the American Association of Public Health Dentistry promulgated a strategic plan that endorsed such an approach.

Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective

Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective

Little Crow: Taoyateduta: Leader of the Dakota (review)

Reviewed by: Little Crow: Taoyateduta: Leader of the Dakota Waziyatawin Angela Wilson Gwenyth Swain . Little Crow: Taoyateduta: Leader of the Dakota. St. Paul MN: Borealis Books, 2004. 101 pp. Paper, $12.95 Marketed for children nine and older, Gwenyth Swain's biography of the Dakota chief Taoyateduta (His Red Nation), better known as Little Crow, paints a sympathetic and well-researched portrait of a man living during the tumultuous period of white conquest over Dakota people and lands. Swain chronicles the complex life of Taoyateduta and convincingly conveys how limited and difficult were the choices for Dakota people in this era of history. Born about 1810 into a line of Dakota leaders, Taoyateduta witnessed personally the first permanent white invasion and settlement of the Dakota homeland of Minnesota. This influx of missionaries, traders, agents, soldiers, and settlers meant that the Dakotas suffered disease, land-loss, depletion of game, and starvation, as well as severe assaults on the culture and a deep factionalism. After facing these conditions for decades along with repeated treaty violations by the U.S. government, the Dakotas were finally pushed to violence in 1862, and Taoyateduta reluctantly agreed to lead the Dakotas in war. After the Dakotas suffered a quick defeat, like many others Taoyateduta fled imprisonment at the war's end. However, after returning to Minnesota briefly in the summer of 1863 on a raiding party, he was shot by white farmers who collected a handsome bounty for mortally wounding the leader of Dakota resistance. The strength of this work is that it maintains the complexity of Taoyateduta's [End Page 735] life and times while also remaining accessible to young readers. Rather than simplifying the narrative into a story of inevitable white conquest over a doomed and heroic Indian leader and his people, Swain details at length the negative consequences of white encroachment, the impossible choices facing Dakota people, the compromises and lapses in integrity particularly at the time of the war, and the nastiness of the white settler population. For example, Swain surprisingly includes the often ignored quote of then Governor Alexander Ramsey who stated "The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the state." In another example she provides the gruesome details about the chief's death, presenting an unflattering portrait of Minnesotans who dragged his body to the main street of Hutchinson, put firecrackers in his ears and nose, scalped and beheaded him, then displayed his remains at one of the state's most revered institutions, the Minnesota Historical Society. Children's literature often neglects such telling details because many believe that children should not be introduced to violence in historical writings at a young age. Such details also tend to undermine the usual efforts to instill American patriotism at the elementary level as well as call into question the violence with which Minnesota was wrested from the possession of its Indigenous inhabitants. Because Swain was not afraid to introduce young readers to some of the stark realities of Taoyateduta's era, this important and courageous inclusion has the potential to help foster a more critical consciousness in Minnesota's and America's children. Considering there is a dearth of more historically accurate children's books about Indigenous peoples, this work is an important, much-needed, and long-overdue contribution to the genre. However, despite the more honest indictment of white policies and actions toward Dakota people, Swain still does not go quite far enough. Rather than using more accurate terminology to describe white actions, she frequently chose more benign terms and phrases. Thus, instead of discussing white invasion of the Dakota homeland, we learn from her version that "white people were moving into Dakota lands." Rather than learning about the devastation that whites created, we learn that "Cetanwakanmani [Taoyateduta's grandfather] did not understand what changes white people would bring." When the Dakota people of Kaposia, Taoyateduta's village begin leaving in the 1820s we learn that "The deer and other game that had been so plentiful in years past seemed to be hiding somewhere in the Big Woods to the west," rather than learning that they were overhunted by the invading white population...

Congress Hammers FDA Over Handling of SSRIs

Congress Hammers FDA Over Handling of SSRIs

The Essential Work of Democracy

NOTHING IS more important to America's future than teaching our children the skills they need to be successful. Every child must receive a quality education if America is to be a prosperous and hopeful country. Our rapidly changing global economy is creating new industries that compete for highly skilled workers from around the world, and young people in America must be able to compete for every job in the new economy. The success of every industry depends on the availability of an educated work force. Our national security is increasingly dependent upon attracting more students into technology and engineering careers. Improving our quality of life through medical breakthroughs and alternative fuel technologies requires cultivating the next generation of innovators and scientists. And our schools face the challenge of preparing the next generation of American citizens to govern in the 21st century. The challenge to educate future Americans can be called the essential work of democracy. Making America safer, stronger, and better demands a world-class education system. Education has been, and continues to be, a top domestic priority of mine and of my Administration. On my second day in office, I sent to Congress the boldest plan in a generation to improve our public schools -- a plan to raise educational standards for every child and to require accountability from every school. These reforms were entitled No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to reflect my belief that every child can learn. When expectations are high, America's children will rise to meet them. I signed NCLB into law less than one year later, thanks to unprecedented bipartisan support from members of Congress. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, which declared the doctrine of separate but unconstitutional. Brown gave children equal access to school buildings, but many students today still suffer inequality in the education they receive. Some students are taught well, while the rest -- mostly African American, Hispanic, special-needs, limited-English- proficient, and low-income students -- fall behind or drop out. By the time they reach 12th grade, only one in six African Americans and one in five Hispanics can read at grade level. Only 3% of African Americans and 4% of Hispanics are testing at the proficient level in mathematics. The achievement gap between African American students and white students in the fourth grade who are reading at or above the proficient level is 28 percentage points. This educational divide is caused by the soft bigotry of low expectations. Many excuses have been offered, but the result is still the same. Students are more likely to stop believing in themselves if they think adults have stopped believing in them. This is unacceptable. Our government must speak for disadvantaged children who have been unheard and overlooked. They are the children who were hidden behind the averages and shuffled from class to class, grade to grade, without receiving the attention they needed and deserved. We need No Child Left Behind. We are meeting the challenge and fulfilling my promise to improve education with the resources necessary to improve the achievement of all our children. I have provided the largest increase in federal education funding in our nation's history and the highest percentage gain since President Johnson left office. Since I took office: * Elementary and secondary education funding has increased $12.1 billion (49%), from $24.8 billion in 2001 to a proposed $36.9 billion in 2005. * Title I funding for low-income schools has increased $4.6 billion (52%), from $8.8 billion in 2001 to a proposed $13.3 billion in 2005. * Special education funding has increased $4.7 billion (75%), from $6.3 billion in 2001 to a proposed $11 billion in 2005. * Funding for reading programs has quadrupled. …

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5

America's children: key national indicators of well-being, 2003

America's children: key national indicators of well-being, 2003

More Sinned Against Than Sinning

Eighteen years ago, Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli scientist working at Dimona nuclear facility, revealed that Israel had an atomic bomb project, a secret that had clouded US—Israeli relations since the days of Kennedy and Ben Gurion, and might have involved collusion between the countries. Vanunu was kidnapped in Italy, returned to Israel and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment, nearly 12 of which he spent in solitary confinement. In April this year, James Thackara went to Israel for Index on Censorship to greet Vanunu on his release from Ashkelon Prison. Ursula Owen interviewed Thackara on his return.James Thackara has had a long involvement in nuclear issues and the Vanunu case, and is the author of America's Children (Chatto & Windus, 1984), a novel dealing with the Manhattan Project and the fate of Robert Oppenheimer

Poor kids in a rich country: America's children in comparative perspective

Poor kids in a rich country: America's children in comparative perspective

The long-term emotional and physical wellbeing of women who have lived in kinship care

Objective: Three percent of America's children are living with a relative, without their biological parent (termed kinship care). Some of these arrangements are formally court-ordered while others are informally arranged. Little is known about the lasting impact of these living arrangements. This study investigated the relationship between childhood kinship care and adult physical and emotional wellbeing. Methods: Data from 8760 women in the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth were analyzed. Kinship ( N=471) and comparison ( N=8289) groups were identified. The outcome variables were health status, limitation in life activities, presence of anxiety, and unhappiness with life. Results: After adjusting for multiple predictor variables, kinship care was associated with greater unhappiness with life (OR 2.3, CI 1.5–3.6) and with the presence of prolonged anxiety (OR 1.6, CI, 1.1–2.2). Despite significant differences in bivariate analyses, kinship care was not associated in logistic regression models with either poor health status or limitations in life activities. Conclusions: Childhood kinship care is associated with poor emotional but not physical wellbeing in adulthood. Recognition of this risk factor by child welfare agencies and health care providers may facilitate intervention among adolescents prior to emancipation to permit more efficient diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.

Video Game Internal Turfs and Turfs of Play

Video Game Internal Turfs and Turfs of Play

Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country

Children, Youth and Environments. Vol 14, No.1 (2004) ISSN 1546-2250 Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country Timothy Smeeding Maxwell's Center for Policy Research Syracuse University Lee Rainwater Harvard University Luxembourg Income Study Citation: Smeeding, Timothy and Lee Rainwater. (2004). “Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country.” Children, Youth and Environments 14(1). We want to thank the reviewer for a cogent analysis and policy interpretation of our book. This brief response is to say that policy can indeed make a difference. Figure 1 compares child poverty in the UK and in the USA using similar poverty standards— the U.S. poverty line (about 43-45 percent of U.S. median income in 1997) with the UK poverty line (set at 60 percent of UK median income in 1997). In the United Sates we show both the official series (top line) and one that reflects the Luxembourg Income Study’s (LIS) income definition and the changes in poverty measurement recommended by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1995. Since the UK GDP per person was about 70 percent of the U.S. level in that year, these lines measure just about the same “real” level of living. 279 Figure 1. Trends in Absolute Child Poverty: UK vs. U.S., 19892002 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Hills, John and Holly Sutherland (2004). "Child Poverty in the UK and the Blair Government: A Progress Report." Conference on the Support of Children, Princeton University, January. Revised April, 2004. Mimeo, CASE Center, London School of Economics. In 1997, Prime Minister Blair announced his policies against child poverty; in 1999 they began to be implemented; by 2001-2002, child poverty in the UK had fallen below that in the United States measured against the same “real” resource level. Note that child poverty in both nations began to fall without the help of policy in the late 1990s owing to the strong economic growth of the period. But as we entered the 21st century, when both economies turned sour, the UK showed that policy can make a difference. The U.S. poverty decline stopped; the UK’s continues. To our reviewer and the readers 280 of CYE, we close by saying there is hope. But, it may take some time to find a leader who reads all of our books and then decides to run for President, making child poverty a key priority. The Blair government experience in the UK may give her or him some hope indeed. Timothy M. Smeeding is the Maxwell Professor of Public Policy, and Director of Maxwell's Center for Policy Research. He is also the Director of the Luxembourg Income Study (www.lisproject.org), a nonprofit research organization which he co-founded with Lee Rainwater in 1983. Professor Smeeding's research is focused on national and cross-national aspects of economic inequality, poverty, and public policy toward vulnerable groups, such as children, the aged, and the disabled. Over the next eight months he will publish three books: The Economics of an Aging Society (with Richard V. Burkhauser, Robert L. Clark, Marilyn Moon, and Joseph F. Quinn; Blackwell Publishers); Poor Kids in a Rich Nation (with Lee Rainwater; Russell Sage Foundation Press); and Public Policy and the Future of the Family, proceedings of a conference held at The Maxwell School in October 2002 (edited with Lee Rainwater, and Professor Daniel Patrick Moynihan; Russell Sage Foundation Press). Additional unpublished papers and a complete curriculum vitae may be found on his website at http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty/smeeding/ Lee Rainwater is professor of sociology emeritus and research director of the Luxembourg Income Study. His books include Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective, with Timothy M. Smeeding, Russell Sage Foundation, 2003; Income Distribution in OECD Countries, with Anthony B. Atkinson and Timothy M. Smeeding, OECD, 1995 ; Public/Private Interplay in Social Protection with Martin Rein, (eds.), M.E. Sharpe and Co., 1986; What Money Buys: Inequality and the Social Meaning of Income, New York: Basic Books, 1974; Behind Ghetto Walls: Black Families in a Federal Slum, Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1970; and And the...

Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country

Children, Youth and Environments. Vol 14, No.1 (2004) ISSN 1546-2250 Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country Timothy Smeeding Maxwell's Center for Policy Research Syracuse University Lee Rainwater Harvard University Luxembourg Income Study Citation: Smeeding, Timothy and Lee Rainwater. (2004). “Response to Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country.” Children, Youth and Environments 14(1). Retrieved [date] from http://colorado.edu/journals/cye. We want to thank the reviewer for a cogent analysis and policy interpretation of our book. This brief response is to say that policy can indeed make a difference. Figure 1 compares child poverty in the UK and in the USA using similar poverty standards— the U.S. poverty line (about 43-45 percent of U.S. median income in 1997) with the UK poverty line (set at 60 percent of UK median income in 1997). In the United Sates we show both the official series (top line) and one that reflects the Luxembourg Income Study’s (LIS) income definition and the changes in poverty measurement recommended by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1995. Since the UK GDP per person was about 70 percent of the U.S. level in that year, these lines measure just about the same “real” level of living. 313 Figure 1. Trends in Absolute Child Poverty: UK vs. U.S., 1989-2002 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Hills, John and Holly Sutherland (2004). "Child Poverty in the UK and the Blair Government: A Progress Report." Conference on the Support of Children, Princeton University, January. Revised April, 2004. Mimeo, CASE Center, London School of Economics. In 1997, Prime Minister Blair announced his policies against child poverty; in 1999 they began to be implemented; by 2001-2002, child poverty in the UK had fallen below that in the United States measured against the same “real” resource level. Note that child poverty in both nations began to fall without the help of policy in the late 1990s owing to the strong economic growth of the period. But as we entered the 21st century, when both economies turned sour, the UK showed that policy can make a difference. The U.S. poverty decline stopped; the UK’s continues. To our reviewer and the readers of CYE, we close by saying there is hope. But, it may 314 take some time to find a leader who reads all of our books and then decides to run for President, making child poverty a key priority. The Blair government experience in the UK may give her or him some hope indeed. Timothy M. Smeeding is the Maxwell Professor of Public Policy, and Director of Maxwell's Center for Policy Research. He is also the Director of the Luxembourg Income Study (www.lisproject.org), a nonprofit research organization which he co-founded with Lee Rainwater in 1983. Professor Smeeding's research is focused on national and cross-national aspects of economic inequality, poverty, and public policy toward vulnerable groups, such as children, the aged, and the disabled. Over the next eight months he will publish three books: The Economics of an Aging Society (with Richard V. Burkhauser, Robert L. Clark, Marilyn Moon, and Joseph F. Quinn; Blackwell Publishers); Poor Kids in a Rich Nation (with Lee Rainwater; Russell Sage Foundation Press); and Public Policy and the Future of the Family, proceedings of a conference held at The Maxwell School in October 2002 (edited with Lee Rainwater, and Professor Daniel Patrick Moynihan; Russell Sage Foundation Press). Additional unpublished papers and a complete curriculum vitae may be found on his website at http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty/smeeding/ Lee Rainwater is professor of sociology emeritus and research director of the Luxembourg Income Study. His books include Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America's Children in Comparative Perspective, with Timothy M. Smeeding, Russell Sage Foundation, 2003; Income Distribution in OECD Countries, with Anthony B. Atkinson and Timothy M. Smeeding, OECD, 1995 ; Public/Private Interplay in Social Protection with Martin Rein, (eds.), M.E. Sharpe and Co., 1986; What Money Buys: Inequality and the Social Meaning of Income, New York: Basic Books, 1974; Behind Ghetto Walls: Black Families in a Federal...

Separate and Unequal: America's Children, Race, and Poverty

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that: Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of a State solely on the basis of race, pursuant to state laws permitting or requiring such segregation, denies to Negro children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment--even though the physical facilities and other 'tangible' factors of white and Negro schools may be equal. (1) Even with a half-century to digest this notion and implement and enforce policies to make equality a reality, the United States today is still a country of separate and unequal. In fact, there is a growing gap between rich and poor children, and between black, white, and Latino children. The United States is top of the list of industrialized nations when it comes to the number of poor children. (2) There are more children living in poverty today than there were 40 years ago when the war on poverty was officially declared. As noted in the article by Nightingale and Fix in this journal issue, black children are still twice as likely as white children to be poor, and a record number of black children are living in extreme poverty. In 2001, nearly one million black children lived in families with an annual income of less than half the federal poverty level (disposable income below $7,064 for a family of three)--the highest number in 23 years. (3) The portrait of inequality is astounding. (See Box 1.) Poverty accentuates racial disparities in children's health, and poor health and poverty spiral together in a vicious cycle that injures all children. The situation in the classroom reflects a similar gaping demographic schism. Fifty years after the Brown decision, black children are still almost twice as likely as their white peers to become dropouts. (See the article by Fuligni and Hardway in this journal issue.) Box 1 A Portrait of Inequality Health: * Young black children are twice as likely as white, Native American, Asian American, or Latino babies to be born with low birth weight. * Babies born to Latinas and Native Americans are twice as likely as those born to whites to have mothers who receive late or no prenatal care. * Young black children are twice as likely as their white peers to die from influenza or pneumonia. * Black young adults are three times as likely as white young adults to die from complications of diabetes. * Black children and teens are five times as likely as their white peers to die of chronic lower respiratory disease, and almost twice as likely to die of heart disease. Education: * Latino fourth graders are two to three times as likely as their white classmates to be performing below the basic level in mathematics. * White fourth graders are three to four times as likely as their black and Latino classmates to be reading at the proficient level. Juvenile Justice: * Black juveniles are about four times as likely to be arrested as their white counterparts. * Black males ages 15 to 19 are four times as likely as their white peers and twice as likely as their Latino peers to die from firearms injury. * Black juveniles are five times as likely as white youths to be incarcerated. Source: Children's Defense Fund. The state of America's children: Yearbook 2004. Washington, DC: CDF, 2004. The result of this disparity is a direct pipeline from school to prison. Many high schools have become prep schools for jail. Pushouts, dropouts and expulsions all create an underclass of children who are ready-made for prison cells rather than dorm rooms. Society can no longer feign surprise when confronted with glaring overrepresentation of children of color in our juvenile justice system. A black boy today has one chance in 55 of earning a master's degree, but one chance in 5 of going to prison before age 30. (4) It is reprehensible that a country such as the United States is home to more than 12 million children who live below the poverty line, (5) and more than 9 million children who lack health insurance. …

Which physicians are providing health care to America's children? Trends and changes during the past 20 years.

Although pediatricians and family physicians are trained in the care of children, previous studies have revealed significant differences in the medical care and specialty referral patterns each provides. During the 1990s, several developments in the population and the health care system (eg, aging of the population and increases in Medicaid managed care) may have resulted in changes to the proportion of children seeking care from one or the other specialty. To determine any changes in the proportion of office visits for children from birth through the age of 17 years provided by pediatricians or family physicians from 1980 to 2000. Analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data sets from 1980 to 2000. During our years of interest, the total number of visits sampled ranged from 2524 to 9151. Visits were analyzed for physician type and patient age. There have been marked changes in the proportion of office visits to general pediatricians vs family physicians during the 1990s. Overall, the percentage of all nonsurgical physician office visits for children from birth through the age of 17 years made to general pediatricians increased significantly, from 56.2% in 1990 to 64.2% in 2000 (P<.001). During the same period, the percentage of all nonsurgical physician office visits for children from birth through the age of 17 years made to family physicians declined significantly, from 33.7% in 1990 to 23.9% in 2000 (P<.001). Visits to pediatric specialists, as a proportion of all visits, increased significantly, from 1.6% in 1980 to 4.5% in 2000 (P<.001). Pediatricians are providing more primary care visits for children in the United States, and this trend has accelerated during the past 5 years. These findings have implications for the cost of care, the physician workforce, and the training of future physicians. It is unknown if these changes have had a positive or negative impact on the health of our nation's children.

Developing a Pediatric Oral Health Therapist to Help Address Oral Health Disparities Among Children

Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General documented the profound and significant disparities that exist in the oral health of children in the United States. Recently, the country has been issued a National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health, under the leadership of the Office of the Surgeon General. Among the significant factors contributing to the disparities problem is the access to oral health care by disadvantaged populations. There are inadequate numbers of dentists able and willing to treat children, particularly poor and minority children. In the early part of the twentieth century, New Zealand faced a significant problem with oral disease among its children and introduced a School Dental Service staffed by allied dental professionals, known as "school dental nurses," who had received two years training in caring for the teeth of children. A number of other countries have since adopted this model. This article reviews attempts to develop a comparable approach in the United States. Furthermore, it justifies and advocates the development of pediatric oral health therapists in the United States as a means of addressing the disparities problem that exists in this nation. These pediatric oral health therapists would be trained in a two-year program to provide dental care services to children. The article concludes by asserting that such action is a practical and cost-effective way for dentistry to fulfill its professional obligation to care for the oral health of all children, thus ensuring justice in oral health for America's children.

Demographic Change and the Life Circumstances of Immigrant Families

SUMMARY Several major demographic shifts over the past half-century have transformed who we are and how we live in this country in many ways. Most striking, however, is the fact that children today are much more likely to be members of ethnic or racial minority groups. Racial/ethnic minorities are destined, in aggregate, to become the numerical majority within the next few decades. This article presents a wide range of statistics reflecting cultural, family, social, economic, and housing circumstances across various racial/ethnic and country-of-origin groups. Key observations include: * Children in immigrant families are much less likely than children in native-born families to have only one parent in the home, and they are nearly twice as likely as those in native-born families to be living with grandparents, other relatives, and non-relatives. * Parental educational attainment is perhaps the most central feature of family circumstances relevant to overall child well-being and development, regardless of race/ethnicity or immigrant origins. * Children in immigrant families were only slightly less likely than children in native-born families to have a father who worked during the past year, but many of their fathers worked less than full-time year-round. * Official poverty rates for children in immigrant families are substantially higher than for children in native-born families (21% versus 14%). The author concludes that these results point to a growing need for policies and programs to assure the health, educational success, and well-being of all children across the varied racial/ethnic and immigrant-origin groups who now live in this country. ********** Over the past half-century, our nation has experienced major demographic shifts that have transformed who we are and how we live. This is especially true for children. To start, proportionately, there are fewer of them. Children today make up only 25% of the U.S. population, compared with 36% in 1960. And children today are being reared differently. They are more likely to have a working mother, 67% compared to only 15% in 1950, and most spend significant amounts of time in out-of-home care. Many are also likely to live in or near poverty (26%), and to spend at least part of their childhood living with fewer than two parents (nearly 50%). At the same time, children today are healthier and have better-educated parents. Most striking, however, children today are much more likely to be a member of an ethnic or racial minority group, and the diversity of our nation's children is increasing at a dramatic rate. Children in the United States are leading the way toward the creation of a new American majority. This transformation does not, however, reflect the emergence of a singular, numerically dominant group. Instead, it is characterized by a mosaic of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups from around the world. Historically, racial/ethnic minorities, including Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, and American Indians, have accounted for substantially less than one-half of the American population. But taken as a whole, because they are growing much more rapidly than the non-Hispanic white population, they are destined, in aggregate, to become the numerical majority within the next few decades. (See Figure 1.) These new demographic realities pose enormous opportunities and challenges for public policies and programs aimed at assuring that the next generation of children reach their potential to become economically productive adults, nurturing parents, and engaged citizens. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] This article presents a wide range of statistics (calculated from the Public Use Microdata Sample, or PUMS, file of Census 2000, (1) unless noted otherwise) reflecting cultural, family, social, economic, and housing circumstances of children in native-born and immigrant families--statistics that merit the attention of policymakers and service providers who are responsible for initiating, designing, and implementing programs that will fully meet the developmental needs of America's children. …

Shaping New Possibilities for Latino Children and the Nation's Future

One of the most profound demographic shifts in the United States during the past two decades has been the dramatic increase in the Hispanic population, (1) driven both by high birth rates relative to other racial and ethnic groups, and by immigration. (See the article by Hernandez in this journal issue.) The Hispanic population grew by 58% from 1990 to 2000, and in 2003 became the largest minority community in the country with a total of 38.8 million people. Today, about one in eight Americans is of Hispanic origin. Although 70% of Latinos live in five states (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois), over the past decade the population has grown significantly in other parts of the country, including both the South and the nation's heartland. Two characteristics of the Latino population are especially noteworthy. First, Latinos are a young population. More than one-third are under 18 years of age and almost half are under age 25. (2) Both the size of the Latino population and its youthfulness mean that the well-being of the Hispanic community--and especially of Latino children--matters to the future economic and social status of the United States as a whole. Second, although more than half of Latinos--and 85% of Hispanic children--were born in the United States, (3) recent data from the Urban Institute show that one in ten Latino children lives in a mixed-status household in which both immigrant and native-born Latinos reside. (4) Thus, policies and programs that focus on immigrants are likely to have consequences for Hispanic children, whether or not they themselves are immigrants. Many Latinos--as is true of almost all Americans--have immigrant origins. Yet, as was the case with previous waves of immigrants to this country, the children of Latino immigrants were born in the United States, and their outcomes will profoundly affect America's future. To this end, the following discussion highlights three areas that are key to promoting the future productivity and well-being of this growing segment of America's children: education, health, and economic status. Education Latinos now represent the second-largest segment of the school-aged population in the United States (after non-Hispanic whites). Latino parents recognize that education is critical to their children's opportunities in life, (5) yet the portrait of Hispanic education today is decidedly mixed. Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, Latino children are less likely to be enrolled in preschool or to complete high school. Also, many Latino children are not proficient with the English language. Despite the nation's recent emphasis on the importance of early childhood education to later academic success, three- and four-year-old Latino children are the least likely of all children to be enrolled in such programs (36%, compared to 64% of black, and 46% of white children in 2000). (6) Similarly, Latino children are the least likely to participate in Head Start. (7) At the other end of the educational pipeline, data show that only about 60% of Latino students are completing high school, compared with almost 90% of both white and black students. (8) Another educational issue of concern is the fact that the nation's schools now serve more than five million students who are English language learners (referred to as limited English proficient, or LEP, in federal law and regulations), (9) and nearly 80% of these English language learners speak Spanish as their first language. (10) Yet there is a dearth of information on the most effective practices to serve these students. In particular, very few large-scale assessments are being developed that are appropriate for English language learners, which is worrisome since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires schools to improve instruction and outcomes for these children as measured primarily through test scores. (11) More appropriate assessments are especially needed in states where an increasing number of English language learners is a new phenomenon. …

Leveling the Playing Field: Supporting Immigrant Children from Birth to Eight

Many young children in immigrant families do not have good access to health and education services. To the extent that their life prospects are compromised as a result, these children--and the entire society--suffer. This article discusses the needs of children from birth to age eight, with a particular focus on the education needs of young children in immigrant families. Key observations include the following: * Children's skills in kindergarten and their achievement at the end of third grade are important predictors of their future life prospects. * Although well-designed early education and after school programs hold promise to reduce ethnic group-related inequalities in children's cognitive skills and social competence, children in immigrant families are less likely to participate in these programs than are children in native-born families. * Availability and access are important factors: When pre-kindergarten programs are offered in public schools, Hispanic and Asian American children are more likely to participate. * Family literacy programs are a promising strategy for improving the language skills of children in immigrant families, as well as their parents. The author concludes that policies that support the health and early education of all young children should be a national priority, and that universal programs open to all children with a minimum of barriers are most likely to be successful in facilitating the participation of young children of immigrant families. ********** Current policies and programs for American children from birth to eight have not kept pace with changing demographic diversity. Too many children--many of whom live in low-income, minority families--do not have good access to health and education services. They are disproportionately from American Indian, Alaskan and Native Hawaiian, and black population groups, and from certain Latino and Asian groups. Moreover, one in five children under age 18 in the United States today is the child of an immigrant, and immigrant children are the fastest growing segment of the nation's population of children. (See the article by Hernandez in this journal issue.) Children of immigrants also are disproportionately represented among the poor, and their poverty rates have increased dramatically over the past quarter century. In 1970, the poverty rate for children of immigrants was about 12%, but by 2002, the rate had nearly doubled to 23%. (1) Today, one in four low-income children is the child of an immigrant. Newcomer children and families, particularly those whose first language is not English, face considerable barriers to accessing programs and services. This lack of access violates the American value of equality of opportunity. Research provides clear direction for policies and programs that can be helpful in meeting the challenge of providing health and educational services for all children. Yet failure to address preventable problems such as poor health and disparities in early literacy is compromising the life prospects of significant numbers of America's children from an early age. Children are not the only ones who lose. The entire society suffers from the loss of their human capital, creativity, and productivity as family members, workers, and community members. In addition to requiring new ways to ensure effective delivery of services, the increasing diversity of American children raises yet another challenge: the creation and sustaining of a cohesive, socially integrated society that seeks the common good. The United States is not alone in facing this challenge. Policymakers and advocates can learn from the experiences of other nations as they seek to integrate newcomer children and their families into their societies. (2) What is unique about the United States in comparison to its peer nations, however, is the absence of a national family and child policy, and the absence of such a policy makes the task of building social cohesion much more difficult. …