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November 5, 2013
Child Trends and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation recently issued The Youngest Americans,
a comprehensive indicators-based portrait of the 12 million infants and
toddlers (ages birth through two years) in the U.S. Drawing on emerging
developmental science and new data sources, the report provides a
revealing look at this most fragile, and most promising, stage of life.
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Infants and toddlers have the highest rates of poverty of any age group in America
Prolonged
economic hardship, especially when experienced in early childhood, does
more than impoverish families and communities: it actually alters the
biology of the developing brain. While a majority of America's youngest
children are doing well by many measures of well-being, one-quarter
(about 3 million) live in families with incomes below the federal
poverty line; one in eight lives in deep poverty (in families with
incomes less than half the poverty level); and more than half a million
survive on less than two dollars a day. Among developed nations, only Romania has a higher rate of relative poverty among children.
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Infants and toddlers in the U.S. are a "majority minority"
Of our youngest children, white
non-Hispanics make up fewer than half (49 percent). Hispanic infants and
toddlers comprise 26 percent of the total, black, 14 percent, and
Asian, five percent. While the new majority will offer much in shaping
21st-century America, many start out in life with severe economic and
social disadvantages. Parents of black and Hispanic infants and toddlers
are much more likely than are parents of young white children to have
significant concerns about their children's development. Black infants
are 60 percent more likely than whites to be born prematurely. Hispanic
infants and toddlers are much less likely than their white counterparts
to have family members read to them, sing to them, or tell them stories.
One-third of America's youngest children live in households where a
language other than English is spoken.
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The majority of mothers of infants and toddlers are employed
However,
for some parents of young children, employment often provides
precarious economic security, particularly for single mothers, and is
accompanied by uneven access to high-quality child care. In addition,
the U.S. is alone among developed countries in having no guaranteed paid
parental leave. Parenting itself is a difficult job under even the best
of circumstances, but parents of infants and toddlers who live in
poverty are more than three times as likely as those in more affluent
families to report stress in parenting. Black and Hispanic parents are
more likely than their white counterparts to report parenting stress.
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Experiencing overwhelming or "toxic" levels of stress harms the early brain development of infants and toddlers
Exposure
to violence (either as victim, or as witness); severe neglect; chronic
poverty; and family disruption due to death, mental illness, divorce or
parental separation can precipitate toxic levels of stress
that alter the ways that a child's brain and body function. If not
addressed within the context of a supportive relationship with a
caregiver, effects can last into adulthood, increasing susceptibility to
serious illness and behavior problems. The prevalence of two or more
adverse experiences (excluding financial hardship) is more than four
times as high among infants and toddlers living in poverty as it is
among their more affluent counterparts.
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Current services and supports for infants, toddlers, and their parents reach only a small fraction of families who need them
For
example, only about one in four children under age three whose families
could benefit from a home visit receives one. Only four in ten receive
developmental screenings. One-tenth of infants and toddlers eligible for
a child care subsidy receive it. Six in 100 eligible for Early Head
Start are enrolled. One in eleven has no health insurance coverage. As
our children get ready for life, that's not much of a platform, let
alone a safety net.
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Contributors:
David Murphey
This Child Trends 5 made possible through generous support from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Publication #2013-47
©2013 Child Trends. May be reprinted with citation.
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