|
U. S. Immigrant Population by The Numbers The Pew Hispanic Center, in a new report, says that immigration has been picking up, following along with the reviving U.S. economy and more jobs. Immigration – both legal and illegal – topped 1.5 million in 1999 and 2000. That number dropped to 1.1 million people in 2003, but bounced pack to 1.2 million in 2004. More than 34 million immigrants now live in the United States. They make up 12% of the nation’s population. That number has tripled since 1970, when the foreign-born population was 9.6 million. Mexico accounts for about a third of all U.S. immigrants. Other Latin American countries accounted for about 20% of all immigrants. Asia accounted for slightly more than one-fourth. Europe and Canada combined to account for about 14%. ++++++++++ National Center for Children in Poverty Reports Child Poverty in States Hit by Hurricane Katrina – This fact sheet provides a portrait of poor children in the Gulf Coast states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans and the surrounding regional have long been home to some of the poorest children in the country. Over 13% of children in Louisiana live in extreme poverty. Families, left behind, and trapped in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had few resources –i.e., cash, assets, credit cards, bank accounts, cars. Who Are America’s Poor Children? – Twelve million children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level ($19,000 for a family of four). Five million families have incomes of less than half the poverty level and the numbers are rising. On average, it takes an income of at least twice poverty to cover a family’s needs. Statistics: Nationwide, 17% of children live in poverty (12 million) The District of Columbia has the highest child poverty rate – 30%. Across the country poverty rates range from 7% in New Hampshire to 25% in Arkansas. 33% of black children live in poor families. 28% of Latino children live in poor families. 10% of white children live in poor families. 26% of children of immigrants are poor. 20% of children under age 6 live in poor families. 19% of poor children lack health insurance.
++++++++++ Marriage and Child Well-being
The latest issue of the Future of Children Journal, you can download the entire issue or a two page executive summary. Mounting social science evidence about changes in marriage and childbearing during the latter part of the twentieth century shows these changes are not in the best interests of children. From the report: In 1970, 12% of families with children were headed by a single parent. By 2003 that figure had doubled, to 26%. Roughly half of all children born today are expected to live apart from a parent before they reach 18. The decline in two-parent families since 1960 has been closely linked with a rise in child poverty, primarily because poverty rates are far higher in single-mother families than in two-parent families. The post-1960 changes in marriage and family formation also appear to be depriving children of such documented benefits of marriage as better physical and emotional health and greater socioeconomic attainment.
++++++++++ One Million Plus U.S. Children are Caregivers
1.3 million to 1.4 million children in the USA, ages 8 to 18, take care of sick or disabled relatives, shopping, feeding, dressing, medicating and even changing adult diapers, a government-financed study finds. Most of them care for parents and grandparents who have cancer, Alzheimer’s or similar diseases. At least 75% of them get some help, but half say they spend a substantial amount of time caregiving.
++++++++++ The Importance of Family Dinners
CASA Columbia (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) has just released a new survey that finds that teenagers who eat with their families at least five times a week are more likely to get better grades in school and much less likely to have substance abuse problems. The survey found that teens having family dinners regularly are: 42% less likely to drink alcohol,
59% less likely to smoke cigarettes, and
66% less likely to try marijuana.
The survey also found that frequent family dinners were associated with better school performance, with teens 40% more likely to get A’s and B’s. The survey is available for download at the CASA website at no charge (22 pages). Hardcopy - $5.
++++++++++
Resources for the Support of Traumatized Children and Their Families
The National Traumatic Stress Network has published two documents to help parents and teachers assist their children in the aftermath of Katrina. Link here to Parent Guidelines for Helping Children after a Hurricane. The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children has online resource for parents and caretakers and a section for professionals too. Included on these pages is a message from the director of TLC with some practical advice for professionals, i.e., Cajun and Creole culture, cultural responses to loss in each, Louisiana traditions, and the "Brave Bart" story for traumatized and grieving children, which is available at the site. Link here to the Parents Trauma Resource Center.
++++++++++
Basic Facts About Low-Income Children
The NCCP (National Center for Children in Poverty) has released a set of three fact sheets that describe general demographic characteristics of children in low-income families – their number and proportion, where they live and how often they move, their age distribution, race, and ethnicity, and their parent’s education, employment marital status, and country of origin. The fact sheets cover Infants and Toddlers, Young Children, and All Children. downloadable.
++++++++++ Medical Studies and the Average American Kid
New analysis of childhood risks adds to the controversy on whether federal research protections for children are adequate. Federal regulations say the results the research should be no greater than the ones kids encounter in daily life. The study provides a comprehensive look at the risks in a typical kid’s day and finds them a lot higher than one would think.
++++++++++ Medical and Legal Teamwork to Respond to the Needs of Low-income Children and Their Families The Montana Children and Family Advocacy Program brings together health and legal professionals to improve the health and welfare of low-income children and their families through legal assistance provided in a healthcare setting. There are 30 such programs around the country, but this program is the first of its kind in the Mountain West. Since the first of the year doctors, nurses, social workers and others have referred 62 cases for legal advice ranging from simple living wills to complex family law.
++++++++++The Wilson Four: Arizona Students Born in Mexico, Raised in U.S., Legal Status in Limbo Below find two articles on the Wilson Four, who have come to symbolize thousands of undocumented immigrants and their struggle to remain in the country. U.S. Immigration Law is a Mess and Kids Suffer for It Four Phoenix, Ariz. students who were brought to the United States as toddlers face deportation because they have neither citizenships nor visas. All four consider the U.S. as home, but will be deported to Mexico. The students, called the Wilson Four, were brought up in this country and have grown up in U.S. culture and language. Wilson 4 Avoid Deportation In an article in the Arizona Republic published earlier today (July 27, 2005), a U.S. immigration judge has tossed out the deportation cases against the Wilson Four saying they were targeted by immigration officials at the Canadian border because they are Hispanic. Judge John Richardson said the government violated the students’ constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure and unlawfully obtained evidence against the four. Their troubles are not over. They still remain in the country without legal status. ++++++++++Kids Count 2005 The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s new Kids Count Data Book was released today. The report says more U.S. children are living in poverty and their parents often have difficulty finding full-time work. The report also found improvements in teen birth rates and high school graduation rates. Report statistics: The percentage of kids living in families in which no parent has full-time, year-round employment grew slightly, from 32% to 33%. Teen birth rate dropped from 48 births per 1,000 teens in 2000 to 43 per 1,000 in 2003.
America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005 This report shows the same trends Kids Count report, more children in poverty after a five-year improvement. This publication is a compilation of statistics from 20 federal agencies about children’s economic security, health, behavior, social environment, and education. From this report: In 2004, 68% of children lived with two married parents, down from 77% in 1980. The 68% figure has remained steady for a decade. Children living with just a mother are more likely to live in poverty.
See also Signs point to repercussions of kids being poorer, an article in USA TODAY with information from both reports. Rural Children at a Glance The ERS (Economic Research Service) of the Dept. of Agriculture provides economic, diversity, child poverty rates, and other information about rural children at this web site. ++++++++++ Children Are Targeted in Increasing Numbers for Identity Theft A seven-year-old has a pristine credit history, no credit card debt, no poor credit history. Adults, primarily parents and other relatives, are increasingly stealing their children’s identities to get new credit cards after their credit is ruined. Unfortunately, minors don’t discover that their credit has been misused until the first time they try to open a credit line themselves, usually in their late teens, and it can be very difficult to clear their names. +++++++++Voices Study – Nationwide Survey of Young People 10 through 17, Their Needs and Their Dreams
While America's young believe in the American Dream, more than 40% of the young people surveyed doubt whether they can realize the American Dream for themselves. They are stressed out, worried about their personal safety and confused about how to make smart choices regarding their health and well-being. ++++++++++ Five Most Dangerous Teen Jobs
Sixty to 70 teens die each year due to workplace injuries. The National Consumers League’s list of the five most dangerous jobs for teens appears below: Agriculture: Fieldwork and Processing Construction and Work in Heights Outside Helper: Landscaping, Groundskeeping and Lawn Service Driver/Operator: Forklifts/Tractors Traveling Youth Crews
++++++++++ Teen Gets Scholarship from Death Row Prisoners Group A college student whose younger sister was murdered more than a decade ago has been presented with a $5,000 scholarship from death row inmates around the country. Including this award to Zach Osborne, the group has given out seven scholarships worth about $27,000. ++++++++++ Outreach to New Americans
This program of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) promotes partnerships between refugee communities and law enforcement agencies to address the problem of crime and crime victimization in refugee communities. ONA also helps develop and strengthen broad-based community coalitions involving refugee and immigrants. Click on the link above for links to technical assistance, conferences, training, resource packets and translation bank and other information. ++++++++++ Learn the Signs. Act Early The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities presents an Internet page for parents. Information here will help parents recognize a delay in childhood development which could be a sign of a developmental problem, particularly autism. Includes developmental milestones from 3 months of 5 years, fact sheets about screening, autism, cerebral palsy, vision loss, mental retardation, hearing loss, and ADHD. ++++++++++ Preventing Problems, Promoting Development, Encouraging Engagement: Competing Priorities or Inseparable Goals? This paper from The Forum for Youth Investment examines shifts in thinking about what young people do, should do and can do in the past two decades and when it is reasonable to expect to see results. It builds upon a 1996 paper and incorporates critical ideas about young people as participants and change makers. The paper presents five sets of ideas to help to define a youth development approach and to better define a fuzzy term, youth development that is used simultaneously to describe the process of development and the outcomes of development. 35+ page pdf file. ++++++++++ Child ID Theft Can go Unnoticed for Years While only 2% of identity theft victims are children, experts worry that as the crime continues to grow and perpetrators get wilier, kids will become more vulnerable. Children are usually victimized by adults with access to their fledgling identities: their Social Security numbers and/or birth certificates. Congress is considering changes to the national’s credit system and new protections from identity theft for children. ++++++++++ US high in UN child poverty table According to a report by the United Nations, the US has one of the highest rates of relative (emphasis added) child poverty among the world’s wealthiest countries. It is also one of the few countries to see a recent decline in child poverty. The Child Poverty in Rich Countries report found that the number of children living in poverty had risen in 17 of 24 countries over the past decade. Children in Nordic countries are best off. ++++++++++ The other side of the Social Security Debate: What Social Security means to children and families The National Center for Children in Poverty brings to our notice over five million children who benefit from Social Security, either directly as beneficiaries, as dependents of workers who have become disabled, or indirectly as family members in households where an adult relies on Social Security. Here are two documents to review: Why Social Security Matters to Children and Families: What Every Policymaker Should Know – Five page fact sheet loaded with information and statistics, with endnotes. Whose Security? What Social Security Means to Children and Families – Policy brief describes the role that Social Security plays in protecting America’s children and argues that the current debate ignores how privatization and benefit cuts will impact our most vulnerable population – children. 10 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Immigrant Resource Guide The Yale University School of the 21st Century has published a Resource Guide for Professionals Working with Immigrant Families. The guide is designed to translate the current research on young immigrant families into useful information for the professional who works with the immigrant population on a daily basis. 30 page pdf An accompanying guide, for professionals to share with immigrant parents, provides information on child development, child care, and issues pertinent to immigrants. 12 page pdf. Is Childhood Becoming Oversexed? It’s called the “sexualization of childhood,” a sex-saturated culture that encourages children and young adults to define themselves mainly by how sexy they are, and to see sex as the most important quality in a successful relationship. Parents and child development experts bump up against marketers who say kids today are growing up in a different world than their parents did and are savvier at younger ages. The Stake of Vulnerable Populations in Social Security Connect for Kids reports on a Generations United briefing on Capitol Hill May 2 to explain more about the Social Security system and its effects on families. The briefing highlighted new findings from research that Social Security lifts approximately 1 million children above the poverty line. ++++++++++ |
Subject Library 
