GAO U.S. Children by the Numbers Highlights from GAO-18-41SP Assessing the well-being of U.S. children The success of the nation depends in large part on how well families and society care for children so that they become healthy and productive adults. What did we examine? We collected and analyzed federal data in three categories: - Family, physical, and social environment - Physical and mental health - Early care and education What did we find? 1. In recent years, the well-being of U.S. children has: - worsened in some areas - remained constant in some areas - improved in others 2. Well-being continues to be generally worse for children who are: - minority - poor - from families headed by single mothers Below are some of our specific findings. How precise are these results? Data ranges represented by (line graph interval) or (bar chart interval) indicate 95% confidence intervals. These mean that if agencies were to survey the entire population, there is a 95% chance that the result would be within the interval. Family, physical, and social environment Access to Food* TREND: No major change in the percentage of households with children who lack access to food Line graph: (callout: 11%: peak during last recession) Estimated percentage of households with food-insecure children (2016) Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval 2007 8.3 7.9 8.7 2008 11 10.6 11.4 2009 10.6 10.2 11.1 2010 9.8 9.2 10.4 2011 10 9.4 10.5 2012 10 9.4 10.5 2013 9.9 9.3 10.5 2014 9.4 8.8 10 2015 7.8 7.2 8.3 2016 8 7.44 8.56 2016 snapshot: Children in female-headed households were more likely to lack access to food. Bar chart: Family composition Estimated percentage of households with food-insecure children (2016) Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Female headed 16.0 14.50 17.50 Male headed 9.2 7.08 11.32 Married couple 4.7 4.16 5.24 *We are referring to food insecurity, which is a lack of access to adequate food for a healthy lifestyle for all household members. Source: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service using data from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. Student Homelessness TREND: Increase in number of students schools identify as homeless Line graph: Number of enrolled public school students who were homeless (in millions) Academic year Number of homeless students (in millions) 2005-06 0.907228 2006-07 0.679724 2007-08 0.794617 2008-09 0.93688 2009-10 0.939903 2010-11 1.05399 2011-12 1.13496 2012-13 1.21982 2013-14 1.30124 2014-15 1.26332 2014-15 snapshot: - >950,000 homeless students: "doubled-up" (living with others) - ~95,000 homeless students: unaccompanied (not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian) Source: U.S. Department of Education's Consolidated State Performance Report data from the National Center for Homeless Education. Physical and mental health Access to insurance TREND: Percentage of children uninsured declined by about half Line graph: Uninsured Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval 2006 9.5 8.83 10.17 2007 9 8.26 9.74 2008 9.1 8.32 9.88 2009 8.2 7.49 8.91 2010 7.8 7.21 8.39 2011 7 6.49 7.51 2012 6.6 6.09 7.11 2013 6.6 6.09 7.11 2014 5.4 4.95 5.85 2015 4.5 4.07 4.93 2015 snapshot: Among those considered "near poor," a higher percentage lacked insurance. Bar chart: Percentage of children without insurance by percentage of the federal poverty level percentage of federal poverty level Uninsured Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Less than 100% 4.7 3.76 5.64 100-199% 6.9 5.8 8.0 200% or more 3.3 2.77 3.83 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Health Interview Survey. Alcohol, smoking, and drug use TREND: Alcohol and Tobacco: Decrease in use TREND: Illicit drugs and use of pain relievers: Slight decrease Line graph: Percentage of youth age 12-17 reporting use of each substance in the last year Tobacco Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Alcohol Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Illicit drugs Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Pain Relievers (non-medical use) Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval 2005 6.9 6.47 7.33 19.9 19.21 20.59 2006 7.2 6.77 7.63 19.6 18.87 20.33 2007 6.7 6.25 7.15 18.8 18.11 19.49 2008 6.5 6.07 6.93 19.1 18.41 19.79 2009 19.3 18.57 20.03 30.3 29.48 31.12 6.6 6.17 7.03 19.7 18.99 20.41 2010 18 17.37 18.83 28.7 27.86 29.54 6.3 5.87 6.73 19.5 18.76 20.24 2011 16.8 16.13 17.47 27.8 26.96 28.64 5.9 5.53 6.27 19 18.27 19.73 2012 15.2 14.57 15.83 26.3 25.48 27.12 5.3 4.93 5.67 17.9 17.25 18.55 2013 13.9 13.27 14.53 24.6 23.82 25.38 4.6 4.25 4.95 17.2 16.51 17.89 2014 12.7 12.03 13.37 24 23.18 24.82 4.7 4.29 5.11 17.4 16.66 18.14 2015 11.6 10.99 12.21 22.7 21.88 23.52 2016 10.5 9.89 11.11 21.6 20.78 22.42 2016 snapshot: There were variations in substance use by race. Bar chart: Alcohol (2016) Percentage of youth age 12-17 reporting use Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval White 24 22.88 25.12 Black 15.6 13.74 17.46 Hispanic 21.3 19.54 23.06 Asian 13.2 10.06 16.34 Tobacco (2016) Percentage of youth age 12-17 reporting use Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval White 12.7 11.80 13.60 Black 6.7 5.41 7.99 Hispanic 8.6 7.37 9.83 Asian 4.3 2.20 6.40 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Depression and suicide TREND: Rise in major depressive episodes among youth age 12-17 Line graph: Estimated percentage of youth age 12-17 who experienced an MDE Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval 2007 8.2 7.71 8.69 2008 8.3 7.81 8.79 2009 8.1 7.63 8.57 2010 8 7.53 8.47 2011 8.2 7.73 8.67 2012 9.1 8.59 9.61 2013 10.7 10.11 11.29 2014 11.4 10.77 12.03 2015 12.5 11.85 13.15 2016 12.8 12.17 13.43 TREND: Slight rise in suicide rates (per 100,000 youths) Line graph: Suicide rate per 100,000 youths Age 10-14 Suicide rate per 100,000 youths Age 15-19 2005 1.3 7.7 2006 1 7.3 2007 0.9 6.9 2008 1.1 7.5 2009 1.3 7.7 2010 1.3 7.5 2011 1.4 8.3 2012 1.5 8.3 2013 1.9 8.3 2014 2.1 8.7 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Survey on Drug Use and Health and National Vital Statistics System. Early care and education School crime and safety TREND: Decrease in rate of theft and violent crimes at school per 1,000 students age 12-18 Line graph: Estimate Minimum estimate at the 95% confidence interval Maximum estimate at the 95% confidence interval 2006 67.5 56 79 2007 67.8 55.3 80.3 2008 54.3 43.2 65.4 2009 51 39.2 62.8 2010 34.9 26 43.8 2011 49.3 39.3 59.3 2012 52.4 43 61.8 2013 55 42.8 67.2 2014 33 25.2 40.8 2015 32.9 24.7 41.1 Source: U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey. For notes on data definitions and methodology, see full report. For more information, including our recommendation, see GAO-18-41SP at GAO.GOV. This work has been released into the public domain. GAO