In 2003 10% of all families lived in poverty.
Social issues in america full#
The 2003 child poverty rate of 17.6% represented almost a full percentage point increase over the 16.7% rate in 2002. The child poverty rate then began a steady decline but leveled off at about 16% in 1999. As poverty rates for people aged sixty-five and over continued to decline, the poverty rate for children continued to climb to a 1993 peak of about 22%. In 1974 children, for the first time, replaced the elderly as the poorest age group. Since the early 1980s, the poverty rates for adults aged sixty-five and over nearly matched those for adults aged eighteen to sixty-four, demonstrating great improvement in the wellbeing of the elderly population.
In 2003 children were 25.4% of the total population but 35.9% of people in poverty, according to U.S. Poverty was associated with a number of serious problems for children, including inadequate health care and lower educational achievement. Eight children or teenagers died from gunfire every day. Only 31% of fourth graders read at or above grade level and almost one in ten teens aged sixteen to nineteen was a school dropout. An estimated three million children were suspected victims of child abuse and neglect. The organization reported that one in six children in the United States continued to live in poverty and one in eight-9.3 million-children had no health insurance. The Children's Defense Fund offered a different perspective in The State of America's Children 2004. On the other hand, more children were overweight, the incidence of low birth weight infants increased, the number of children living in crowded housing conditions increased, and fewer children had at least one parent with full-time employment. Infant and childhood death rates continued to decline, adolescent smoking decreased, and fewer children were exposed to the hazards of secondhand smoke. The proportion of children ages three to five enrolled in primary education rose nineteen percentage points, and high school completion rates improved slightly. Teenage pregnancies reached a record low and teen violence dropped dramatically over the past decade.
The well-being of America's children improved in many respects during the early years of the twenty-first century, according to the seventh annual Federal Inter-agency Forum on Child and Family Statistics report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2003. AMERICA'S CHILDREN: INDICATORS OF WELL-BEING The program seeks to prevent child abuse and neglect, avoid removing children from their homes, support family reunification services, and help those children who are unable to return home by providing crucial adoption and post-adoptive services. To expand the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, which provides States with vital resources to help families stay together and to promote adoption. Bush noted that earlier in the year he signed bipartisan legislation: In proclaiming November 24 through November 30, 2002, National Family Week, President George W. SOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING AMERICA'S CHILDREN
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