Children & Families
We can learn a lot about any country based on how it treats its children. Research is also clear that childhood shapes our life trajectories in profound ways. Moreover, those trajectories are shaped by children’s families. For example, parents’ income and wealth shape the physical resources available in the household. The time that parents and other family members spend with their children shape children’s values, knowledge, skills, habits, beliefs, and emotional well-being. We are also products of our neighborhoods, friendships, national culture, policies, environments, and the decisions we make in adulthood. In the long run, no country can be more successful than its children.
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Child MortalityNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend57%Specific Measure:
Mortality rate of children under age five per 100,000 children under age five.
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Low BirthweightNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend50%Specific Measure:
Percentage of live births where children weigh 2,499 grams (5.51 lbs.) or less.
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Youth DepressionNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend1%Specific Measure:
We report two measures.
The narrower definition of youth depression focuses on surveys of adolescents and teenagers (age 10‒19) and uses the full set of symptoms used to clinically diagnose depression (the data do not reflect actual diagnoses).
The broader definition is the percentage of 9th‒12th graders reporting feelings of hopelessness or sadness lasting every day for 2+ weeks in a row that prevented them from doing some of their usual activities, which is only one of the multiple criteria in the narrower definition.
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Children Living with Single ParentNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend3%Specific Measure:
Percentage of children under 18 living with a single parent. (Grandparents and other relatives, though they may play important roles, are not counted as parents in these data. Households where a biological parent has a live-in, unmarried partner are also counted as single-parent households. However, when a stepparent marries the biological parent and/or adopts the child, it is considered a two-parent household).
Measures in green indicate an improving national trend or that we are outperforming at least 80% of countries.
Measures in red indicate a declining national trend or that we are outperforming less than 50% of countries.
Measures in yellow indicate stable trends or that we are outperforming 50-79% of countries.
Summary of Results
Our progress with children and families has been mixed. On the positive side, child mortality has declined sharply, while the percentage of children growing up in single parent households is almost identical to the level in 1990. On the other hand, the percentage of children born at low birthweights and the number of youth reporting symptoms of depression have been rising quickly. We also perform quite poorly relative to other high-income countries on all these measures. On youth depression and the percentage of children growing up in a single parent household, we are among the worst high-income countries.
Related Topics
Youth depression is related to the larger topic of mental health for adults and is a precursor of measures like suicide (see the Mental Health section). Youth depression is also closely related to social isolation and perceptions of one’s own well-being and leads people to withdraw from social life (see the Life Satisfaction section). While not likely a major cause of declining trust, depression does lead to negative thoughts and concerns about others (see the Trust section).
Other Measures Considered
The board also considered, but did not show sufficient support, for other measures, including the percentage of children in the juvenile justice system and the percentage of adults ever married. The public supported the former but not the latter.