The 2008 Child Well-Being Index
The Foundation for Child Development and the New America Foundation released the 2008 Child Well-Being Index, a
comprehensive report on the overall health, education, well-being and
quality of life of America's children, on Tuesday, July 22.
This event and report also had a special emphasis on the status of teenagers during this decade compared to their parents at the
same age. The results may surprise you.
To learn more about the event, and to download the 2008 Child Well-Being Index, please click here.
To read the July 22nd USA Today feature about the 2008 CWI, please click here.
Improving the Lives of Children Essay Contest
Contest Winner Announced
The New America Foundation is looking to draw attention to the needs of children and for the next generation of policy ideas to help kids. We have invited all public and private high school seniors in Washington, D.C., to voice their opinions by writing and submitting an essay that answers the question: “You have just been elected the President of the United States. What is the most important thing you will do to improve the lives of America’s children?” Now the New America Foundation has announced a list of Finalists for the $1,000 scholarship prize. On Tuesday, May 27th the winner was announced.
Click here to find out who won the contest.
Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006
New Report Details Surprising Trends
On Friday April 25th, the Workforce and Family Program hosted the release of the Foundation for Child Development's Special Focus Report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," which presents the first wide-ranging picture of how children in their first decade of life are faring the the U.S. It is the first report to look comprehensively at the overall health, well-being, and quality of life of America's youngest children - from birth through eleven years old, using the FCD Child Well-Being Index (CWI), and to track and compare child well-being across three primary stages of development - early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.
Key findings of the report include:
- Overall improvements in the well-being index are reflected across all age groups – infant/early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence. Each age group follows very similar positive trends across this time period.
- The Health Domain overall is on a dramatic decline, dragged down by rising obesity rates and the number of babies born at low birth weight. Research has linked the latter to an increase in delayed childbearing among women and the use of fertility drugs that make multiple births with lower birth weights more likely. The prevalence of obesity among children 6-11 is nearly four times what it was in the 1960s; for children 2-5, it is three times more.
- Some areas of health show steady improvement, driven by declining infant and child death rates (attributed to better prenatal and health care, nutrition, and seat-belt laws), rates of mothers smoking during pregnancy, blood lead poisoning and increased vaccinations.
To read the Washington Post's front-page article about this Special Focus Report, please click here.
Articles
| Article | Date |
|---|---|
| One Nation: Religion and Politics 2008 | August 26, 2008 |
| Continuing the Investment | November 19, 2007 |
| Serving Our Young Adults | October 15, 2007 |
| Teach Your Children About Interfaith | October 15, 2007 |
| Help Kids via Junk Food Tax | August 31, 2007 |
| The Case for Pre-K | July 18, 2007 |
| A Gift of Flexibility For Our Moms | May 10, 2007 |
| Is America Serious About Mental Health? | April 19, 2007 |
| Congress Needs an Interfaith Caucus | February 10, 2007 |
| Dreams of Motherhood | December 15, 2006 |
Policy Papers
| Title | Date |
|---|---|
| 10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB Reauthorization | November 2007 |
| The Stress of Balancing Work and Family | September 2007 |
| Why Not More Focus on Children? | July 2007 |
| No Worker Left Behind | June 2007 |
| How Research on Family Structure and Children's Development Can Inform Healthy Marriage Practitioners in the Field | December 2006 |
| Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren | September 2006 |
| Valuing Fathers | June 2006 |
| Honoring America's Entrepreneurial Culture | May 2006 |
| Mexikota: The Plain States' Run for the Border | April 2006 |
| More Attention Needs to be Paid to America's Workforce System | March 2006 |
Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Anxious with Reason | October 14, 2008 |
| Hope Matters | October 2, 2008 |
| Beyond Tolerance | September 11, 2008 |
| Against Us | September 9, 2008 |
| An Ounce of Prevention | September 9, 2008 |
| Education Policy in the Next Administration | July 24, 2008 |
| Are Today's Teens Better Off Than Their Parents? | July 22, 2008 |
| Children in the Federal Budget | July 11, 2008 |
| Workplace Flexibility and Religion | June 6, 2008 |
| Trends in the Well Being of Younger Children | April 25, 2008 |
Press
About This Program
Evolving family structures and the demands of the highly competitive global marketplace have put unprecedented pressures on American workers, their families and their employers. The Workforce and Family Program develops and promotes innovative, market-oriented solutions to help Americans succeed in their work and family commitments. Through a Child Well-Being Project, Workforce and Family Building Project and Work and Life Balance Project, the program builds consensus around new ways to strengthen families and empower Americans with the skills and flexibility they need to succeed in today’s economy.
The Workforce and Family Program's recent events and publications are featured in the tabs below; for a more-detailed program description, please click here.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Child Well-Being
Parents and policy makers have long looked to close the educational, health, economic and other gaps in child well-being between children of different backgrounds. As the 2008 campaign heats up, many are wondering about the increasingly diverse generation of America’s children and asking: Where is policy helping and failing to close the gaps between children of different backgrounds? Where do the gaps currently exist? What changes could have the greatest impact?
On Jan. 29, we hosted the release of a report that details some surprising results about the true state of the disparities between children, explains where improvements are being made, and where more work needs to be done. The report contains projections for when gaps between non-white and white children might be closed.
For more information on this event, please click here.
The Child Well-Being Index is funded by the Foundation for Child Development and coordinated by the Child Well-Being Index Project at Duke University.
The Workforce and Family Program appreciates the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Foundation for Child Development, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
