THE STATE OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN® 2020 ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND TABLESECTION OF CONTENTS HEAD The Children’s Defense Fund’s Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective and independent voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor children, children of color and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, drop out of school, get into trouble or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by individual donations, foundation, corporate and government grants. A Note about Using The State of America’s Children® 2020 At the Children’s Defense Fund, we recognize there is so much work to do across different policy areas and states to end child poverty and ensure all of America’s children an equal equitable start in life. To make progress and evaluate our progress in the future, it is helpful to know where we currently stand. The State of America’s Children® 2020 and corresponding state factsheets provide a comprehensive overview of how America’s children are doing nationally to inform conversations and improve policies to ensure no child is left behind. • The State of America’s Children® 2020 summarizes the status of America’s children in 11 areas: child population, child poverty, income and wealth inequality, housing and homelessness, child hunger and nutrition, child health, early childhood, education, child welfare, youth justice and gun violence. For each area, we compiled the most recent, available national and state-level data. The report includes key findings as well as data tables, which are useful for comparing different states. • Using data from the tables in The State of America’s Children® 2020, our state factsheets provide one-page summaries of how children are doing in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and nationwide. Whether you describe yourself as a teacher, child advocate, policymaker, policy wonk, college professor, faith leader, parent or grandparent, a millennial eager to make life better for your younger siblings, or a member of the media, we ask you to use The State of America’s Children® 2020, combined where possible with stories of real children, to inform your conversations and effectively make the case for policies, programs and strategies to improve the odds for children in your state and nationwide. We must keep moving forward. © 2020 Children’s Defense Fund. All rights reserved. Front cover: Steven Nero and Alison Wright Photography Inside photos: Dean Alexander Photography; Stephanie Chan, CDF intern; Steve Liss; Biljana B. Milenkovic; Mark Montemayor; and Alison Wright Photography ii Children’s Defense Fund TABLESECTION OF CONTENTS HEAD LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................4 OVERVIEW ................................................................................ 6 MOMENTS IN AMERICA ...................................................................8 KEY FINDINGS BY POLICY AREA..........................................................10 • Child Population ............................................................10 • Child Poverty................................................................12 • Income and Wealth Inequality..............................................14 • Housing and Homelessness ................................................16 • Child Hunger and Nutrition.................................................18 • Child Health................................................................20 • Early Childhood ............................................................ 22 • Education ..................................................................24 • Child Welfare...............................................................26 • Youth Justice...............................................................28 • Gun Violence...............................................................30 TABLES.....................................................................................32 ENDNOTES.................................................................................70 The State of America’s Children® 2020 1 LIST OF TABLES LISTSECTION OF TABLES HEAD CHILD POPULATION....................................................................... 33 Table 1: Child Population by Age and Race/Ethnicity, 2018 CHILD POVERTY ........................................................................... 34 Table 2: Poor Children in America in 2018—A Portrait Table 3: Federal Poverty Thresholds and Guidelines, 2018 Table 4: Poor and Extremely Poor Children by Age, 2018 Table 5: Number of Poor Children by Race/Ethnicity, 2018 Table 6: Percent of Poor Children by Race/Ethnicity, 2018 INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY ...................................................... 39 Table 7: Median Family Income among Households with Children by Race/Ethnicity, 2017 HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS . 40 Table 8: Rental Housing Affordability, Fiscal Year 2019 Table 9: Homeless Children Enrolled in Public Schools, Select School Years CHILD HUNGER AND NUTRITION ......................................................... 42 Table 10: Child Hunger and Obesity, 2017 Table 11: Average Monthly Number of Child Participants in SNAP and WIC, Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 Table 12: School and Summer Feeding Programs, 2017-2018 School Year and Summer 2018 CHILD HEALTH ............................................................................ 45 Table 13a: Number and Percent of People Uninsured by Age, 2017 and 2018 Table 13b: Uninsured Children by Select Characteristics, 2017 and 2018 Table 14: Children Uninsured and Enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP, 2018 Table 15: Selected Characteristics of State Medicaid and CHIP Programs, 2019 Table 16a: Birth Covered by Medicaid and Infant Mortality, 2010 and 2017 Table 16b: Maternal Mortality by Race, 2013-2017 EARLY CHILDHOOD ....................................................................... 49 Table 17: Enrollment of 3- and 4-Year-Olds in State-Funded Preschool Programs, 2017-2018 Table 18: Child Care Costs for Infants, 2018 Table 19: Average Monthly Number of Children and Families Service by the Child Care and Development Fund by Race/Ethnicity, Fiscal Year 2018 Table 20: Child Care Workers Salaries, 2015 2 Children’s Defense Fund LISTSECTION OF TABLES HEAD EDUCATION . 53 Table 21: Percent of 4th and 8th Grade Public School Students Performing Below Proficiency in Reading or Math by Income Status, 2019 Table 22: Percent of 4th Grade Public School Students Performing Below Proficiency in Reading or Math by Race/Ethnicity, 2019 Table 23: Percent of 8th Grade Public School Students Performing Below Proficiency in Reading or Math by Race/Ethnicity, 2019 Table 24: On-Time High School Graduation Rates among Public School Students by Race/Ethnicity, 2016-2017 School Year Table 25: Suspensions among Public Elementary and Secondary School Students, 2013-2014 School Year Table 26: Public Spending on Prisoners vs. Public School Students, 2015-2016 CHILD WELFARE . 59 Table 27: Child Abuse and Neglect, 2018 Table 28: Children Living In, Entering and Exiting Foster Care, Select Fiscal Years Table 29: Children in Foster Care by Race/Ethnicity, 2017 Table 30: Children in Congregate Care, 2005 and 2017 Table 31: Exists from Foster Care and Emancipation, Fiscal Year 2017 Table 32: Percent of Children Who Have Had Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by Number and Type of ACE, 2017-2018 YOUTH JUSTICE ...........................................................................65 Table 33: Child Arrests, 2018 Table 34: Children in Residential Placement by Race/Ethnicity and Sex, 2017 Table 35: Children in Adult Prisons, Select Years GUN VIOLENCE ............................................................................68 Table 36: Child and Teen Gun Deaths, 2008-2017 The State of America’s Children® 2020 3 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTIONSECTION HEAD A society must be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—and most valuable—members: its children. The State of America’s Children® 2020 makes it abundantly clear that by this measure, America is falling shamefully short. For years our country has fallen short of its promise to its children, and as we enter a new decade, the situation for many children is only growing more dire. One in six children in America lives in poverty, with income inequality having grown to the widest gap our nation has seen in 50 years. Millions of children are homeless and millions more are just one missed paycheck away from losing their homes. Far too many children lack access to quality early childhood care during the most critical years of brain development. For the first time in a decade, the number of children without health coverage is on the rise. And across the country, from urban centers to rural towns, our nation’s gun violence epidemic is killing more children, more often. Even more damning is that as we reach a critical turning point in 2020, when children of color will become the majority of children in America, we are failing these children worst of all. Of the nearly 12 million