U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

Demographic Programs

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

A Child’s Day: 2000 (Selected

Indicators of Child Well-Being)

Household Economic Studies

Issued August 2003

Current

Population

Reports

By 

Terry A. Lugaila

P70-89

INTRODUCTION

This is the second report based on data

from the Survey of Income and Program

Participation (SIPP) which provides a portrait of the well-being of children and

their daily activities.1 This report addresses the topics presented in the initial

report, such as reading interaction,

extracurricular activities, and academic

achievement and presents some new

ones: how frequently children have meals

with their parents and parents’ feelings

toward their children. These aspects of

growing up are important topics for study

in light of the changes in family life and

composition that have been occurring in

recent years, such as the significant proportion of children currently growing up

in single-parent families.2

Previous research established a link

between family structure and various

measures of child development and wellbeing.3 Children in two-parent families

fare better developmentally than children

in single-parent families, with children of

divorced parents having the most problems. In addition, children living with

two biological parents are less likely to

have problems than children living with

1 Jason Fields, Kristin Smith, Loretta Bass and

Terry Lugaila, A Child’s Day: Home, School, and Play

(Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being). Current

Population Reports, P70-68. U.S. Census Bureau,

Washington, DC, 2001. 2 Jason Fields, Living Arrangements of Children:

Fall 1996. Current Population Reports, P70-74. U.S.

Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2001. 3 Robert Hauser, Brett Brown, and William Prosser

(editors), Indicators of Children’s Well-Being, Russell

Sage Foundation, New York, 1997. 

What’s in This Report?

INTRODUCTION

DAILY INTERACTIONS

Children ever living away from 

home

Mealtimes shared

Daily interaction with fathers

Praising and talking to the child

Reading interaction

Family rules about television

Outings in the last month

PARTICIPATION IN 

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Participation in clubs, sports, 

and lessons

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Academically on-track

Enrolled in gifted classes

Changing schools

Ever repeated a grade

Ever suspended

EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

What level of education is a child 

expected to reach

PARENTS’ FEELINGS TOWARD 

THEIR CHILDREN

Child hard to care for

Child does things that bother me 

a lot

Child takes up more time than

expected

Parent feels angry with child

SUMMARY
one biological parent and one stepparent.4 Child well-being indicators associated with children of

divorced or single parents include

low measures of academic achievement (e.g., repeated grades, low

marks, low class standing),

increased likelihood of dropping

out of high school, early childbearing, and increased levels of depression, stress, anxiety, and aggression.

This report highlights a variety of

indicators that portray children’s

experiences both at home and at

school, such as daily interactions

with parents, including: how frequently children have meals with

their parents; how often parents

talk to, play with, and praise their

children; incidence of reading and

going on outings together; and

whether parents impose rules

about television viewing at home. 

2 U.S. Census Bureau

4 Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur,

Growing Up With a Single Parent: What

Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, MA, 1994.

The report’s school-based indicators range from academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities to potential

problems, such as repeating

grades or being suspended from

school. In addition, parents were

asked about their expectations for

the ultimate level of education

they want for their children and

what they think their children will

achieve.

Researchers at various federal

agencies were interested in including questions on how parents actually feel about their children in

order to get a more nuanced picture than that provided by the

usual social and economic indicators. The SIPP data are used to

present findings, for the first time,

about parents’ feelings toward

their children, based on issues,

such as difficulty in caring for their

children and how often they feel

angry with their children. These

daily activities, interactions, and

behavior patterns are apt to affect

children’s success over time.

This report also examines the

degree to which children who are

living with both parents interact

with their mothers and their

fathers. Of special interest is how

children interact with their parents

in unmarried-partner households

where their mother and their father

are living together but are not married to each other, particularly

compared with children living in

married-couple households.

The statistics in this report are

based on data collected in the

child well-being module of the

twelfth interview of the 1996 SIPP

panel, which was administered in

the period December 1999 through

March 2000.5 The 2000 SIPP data

were collected from a national

sample of 10,445 “designated parents” (see definitions box) and

5 The population represented (the population universe) is the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States.

Whenever possible, comparable data from

past SIPP surveys collected in the fall of

1994 and for the period December 1997

through March 1998 are also shown in this

report. 

Table 1.

Children Under 18 Years Old by Marital Status and Sex of Designated Parent: 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

All children Under 6 years old 6 to 11 years old 12 to 17 years old

Number

90-percent

confidence

interval±1 Number

90-percent

confidence

interval±1 Number

90-percent

confidence

interval±1 Number

90-percent

confidence

interval±1

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Parent female ...................

Parent male.....................

Married2 ..........................

Parent female ...................

Parent male.....................

Separated, divorced, widowed.......

Parent female ...................

Parent male.....................

Never married .....................

Parent female ...................

Parent male.....................

71,663

69,380

2,282

51,885

51,381

504

11,538

10,172

1,366

8,240

7,828

412

593

588

130

541

539

62

287

270

101

244

238

56

23,385

22,836

549

17,240

17,116

123

2,060

1,872

188

4,085

3,848

237

395

391

64

345

344

30

124

118

38

174

169

42

24,581

23,888

693

17,858

17,683

176

4,047

3,619

428

2,676

2,586

89

404

399

72

351

349

36

173

164

57

141

139

26

23,697

22,656

1,041

16,787

16,582

205

5,431

4,691

750

1,480

1,394

86

398

390

88

341

339

39

200

186

75

105

102

25

1

This figure added to or subtracted from the estimate provides the 90-percent confidence interval.

2

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Wave 12.
their 19,411 children. These

responses represented 71.7 million

children living in households with

at least one parent, or with a

guardian in the absence of the parents (Table 1).6 The majority of

these children, 51.9 million, were

living with a designated parent

who was currently married.

Another 11.5 million were living

with a designated parent who was

either separated, divorced, or widowed, while the remaining 8.2 million were living with a designated

parent who had never been married. As shown in Table 1, women

made up the vast majority of the

designated parents who reported

for their children.

DAILY INTERACTIONS

One aspect of child well-being is

the type of daily interaction that

occurs between children and their

parents. This section presents data

on everyday occurrences such as

eating meals together, talking or

playing together, and parents praising their children. Also shown, with

comparable data from past SIPP surveys, are reading interactions

between child and parent, family

rules about television viewing, and

family outings in the past month.

New data are also presented on the

instances of separation of children

from their parents.

Children living away from

home

An important part of a child-parent

relationship is the continuous presence of at least one parent during

the child’s formative years. For the

first time, a SIPP question asked

whether the children of the designated parent had ever lived apart

from the parent, for any reason,

for a month or more. Ninety-five

percent of the 72 million children

under age 18 had never lived apart

from their designated parent for

more than a month, assuring some

basic stability with at least one

parent. Children whose parents

experienced a permanent marital

disruption—widowhood or

divorce—were more likely than

children living with a married or

never-married parent to have lived

apart from their designated parent.

About 13 percent of children with

a divorced parent and 12 percent

of children with a widowed parent

had lived apart from their designated parent for a month or more,

compared with only 4 percent for

children living with married parents, 6 percent living with a nevermarried parent, and 7 percent of

children living with a separated

parent. 

Mealtimes shared

As Table 2 shows, the majority of

children under 6 years have a considerable amount of daily interaction with their parents—ranging

from meals together to actual time

playing and talking just for fun. For

example, about three-fourths of

children under age 6 have dinner

each day with their designated parent. A slightly greater proportion of

children living with married parents

(78 percent) than those living with

unmarried parents (73 percent) had

dinner with at least one designated

parent every day of the week. 

Slightly more than half of the children under age 6 (53 percent) ate

breakfast daily with their designated parent, more often with a married parent than with an unmarried

parent (55 compared with 47 percent, respectively). The lower proportions for breakfast meals are

not unexpected, as working parents may leave for work early and

their children may have breakfast

with a child care provider or at

school.

Since older children may have

more activities both before and

after school, they are less likely

than younger children to have

meals each day with their parents.

U.S. Census Bureau 3

6 The estimates in this report are based

on responses from a sample of the population. As with all surveys, estimates may

vary from the actual values because of sampling variation or other factors. All comparisons made in this report have undergone

statistical testing and are significant at the

90-percent confidence level unless otherwise

noted. 

Designated Parent

In the SIPP child well-being module, data are collected about children

from a respondent who is identified as the “designated parent.” The

respondent must be 15 years old or over. The designated parent

includes biological, step, and adoptive parents, and may also include

other relatives or nonrelatives acting as a guardian for the child in the

absence of the parents. In married-couple families, the mother is the

designated parent. If the mother is not available for an interview, the

father or her husband may provide the mother’s information as a

proxy respondent. In single-parent families, the resident parent is the

designated parent. If neither parent is in the household, the guardian

is the designated parent. In this module, 98 percent of the children

had their mother assigned as the designated parent. Data from

fathers who were the designated parent are included with the data

from mothers. People 15 to 17 years old, who themselves may be

parents, have their childhood well-being history reported by their parents when they live with them in the household.
Sixty-five percent of children aged 62 percent of children living with child lived with a married parent,

6 to 17 had dinner every day with an unmarried parent. the proportion was 32 percent for

at least one parent, with little dif- the older group compared with The breakfast structures of older ference noted by the marital status 55 percent for the younger group. and younger children differed dra- of the child’s parent. The same These low proportions for school- matically. Only 29 percent of chil- proportion, 65 percent, of children age children may be attributed to dren 6 to 17 years old had break- living with a married parent had parents allowing their children to fast each morning with a parent, dinner each day with one or more eat breakfast at school. compared with 53 percent of chil- of their parents, compared with dren under 6 years old. If the

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Selected Indicators of Daily Interaction of Children Under 18 With Designated Parent or

With Father/Stepfather if Present by Marital Status of Designated Parent: 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Children under 6 years old Children 6 to 17 years old

Living with

married parents2

Living with

unmarried parent(s)3

Living with

married parents2

Living with

unmarried parent(s)3

Characteristic

Total1

Interaction with Interaction with

Total1

Interaction with Interaction with

Designated

parent

Father/

stepfather4

Designated

parent Father4

Designated

parent

Father/

stepfather4

Designated

parent Father4

Number of children.....

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Parent ate breakfast with

child in typical week

23,385 17,240 16,649 6,145 835 48,278 34,645 33,114 13,633 636

No days.................... 14.2 12.6 26.0 18.5 34.8 20.5 18.3 30.2 26.1 38.9

1 to 2 days ................. 16.5 15.6 33.1 19.1 25.4 28.7 27.3 33.1 32.3 32.2

3 to 6 days ................. 16.3 16.7 16.5 15.3 8.8 21.5 22.1 17.3 19.9 12.8

7 days . . . ..................

Parent ate dinner with child

in typical week

53.0 55.1 24.3 47.2 31.1 29.3 32.3 19.3 21.7 16.1

No days .................... 5.3 5.0 7.5 6.2 15.2 3.2 2.8 5.0 4.4 3.6

1 to 2 days ................. 3.3 2.8 8.5 4.6 7.0 5.4 4.9 8.9 6.8 8.2

3 to 6 days ................. 15.1 14.6 24.4 16.4 11.3 26.8 27.0 32.1 26.5 17.7

7 days . . . ..................

Child praised by parent

76.4 77.7 59.7 72.8 66.5 64.5 65.4 54.0 62.4 70.6

Never—once a week ........ 1.8 1.5 2.5 2.6 5.8 5.2 4.6 6.9 6.8 11.8

A few times per week ........ 7.6 6.1 9.7 12.1 17.0 22.7 21.4 26.5 26.0 24.2

Once or twice per day .......

Three or more times per

20.3 19.3 24.8 23.1 23.0 31.3 31.3 30.6 31.2 36.2

day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Child talked to or played

with for 5 minutes or more

just for fun

70.3 73.2 63.0 62.3 54.2 40.9 42.7 36.0 36.1 27.9

Never—once a week ........ 1.0 0.4 1.7 2.6 5.8 5.7 4.9 6.8 7.9 8.5

A few times per week ........ 6.5 5.3 10.6 9.7 17.5 19.6 18.7 24.2 22.1 28.6

Once or twice per day .......

Three or more times per

21.1 19.3 27.7 26.2 22.3 33.4 33.0 33.8 34.7 35.0

day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.4 75.0 60.0 61.5 54.4 41.2 43.4 35.2 35.4 27.9

1

Totals given refer to questions of designated parents, regardless of sex of parent.

2

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

3

Includes never married, widowed, divorced, and separated.

4

Question asked of fathers who were not the designated parents. Fathers must be biological, step- or adoptive and must be present in the household.

Percent of children eating meals with fathers does not represent presence of both parents at the meals.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, December 1999 to March 2000.
Daily interaction with fathers

The survey data indicate that children living with two parents

received attention from both of

them over the course of the day.

The data in Table 2 show daily

interactions between child and

father/stepfather if the male parent

is present in the household and

between child and father in unmarried partner households if the

child’s biological father is also

present.7 They indicate that

fathers interacted daily with their

children, but usually less frequently than their spouses or unmarried

partners. For example, while 

55 percent of children under 6

years old living with married parents ate breakfast daily with their

mother (or designated parent),

only 24 percent ate breakfast on a

daily basis with their fathers.

Among children living with unmarried parents, about 47 percent of

children under 6 years old ate

breakfast every day with their

mother (or designated parent) but

only 31 percent with their father if

the biological father was present in

the household.

It is interesting to note that mealtime experiences between children

and their fathers were similar for

children living with married or with

unmarried parents when the father

was present in the household. The

proportion of children under 6

years old who ate breakfast or dinner with their father on all seven

days was actually slightly higher

among children in unmarried

U.S. Census Bureau 5

7 For children with married parents, the

numbers of designated parents and

fathers/stepfathers do not exactly match, as

some parents may be married but their

spouses are absent from the household (for

example, in an institution or in the armed

forces). For children living with unmarried

parents (including separated), the majority

are living with only one parent, usually the

mother, but some children may also have

their biological father living with them in the

household and thus are also asked these

daily interaction items.

partner households than in married

partner households.

Praising and talking to 

the child

The 2000 SIPP asked parents how

often they praised or complimented their child by saying, for example, “Good for you” or “Way to go.”

Overall, 70 percent of children

under age 6 received such praise

three or more times per day. A

higher proportion of children living

with a married parent received

praise three or more times per day

than those living with an unmarried parent (73 percent and 62 percent, respectively). 

For the school-age group, only 

41 percent received praise three or

more times per day, but again the

proportion was slightly higher for

children living with married parents

(43 percent) than with unmarried

parents (36 percent). Parents may

have more opportunities to praise

younger children since older children spend more time at school, on

outside activities, and with their

peers than younger ones do.

Parents were also asked how often

they talked or played with their

child for 5 minutes or more, just

for fun. Table 2 shows that

younger children had more of

these interactions with their parents than older children, and children with married parents tended

to interact with their parents more

often than children with unmarried

parents. 

Reading interaction

Another indicator of child wellbeing is how often parents and

other family members read to children in the household. The child

well-being module included questions about the number of stories

read to children who were under

12 years old. Information was collected on the number of times in

the past week when children were

read stories, not only by the designated parent or the father or the

stepfather, but also by other members of the family. Table 3 focuses

on reading to children 1 to 5 years

old by any family member, while

Table 4 shows reading by both parents to children 1 to 11 years old

living with married couples and

unmarried couples. 

Of the 19.6 million children

between the ages of 1 and 5 years

old in 2000 (Table 3), about 1.6

million children (8 percent) were

never read stories in the week preceding the survey by any family

member (9 percent for 1- and 2-

year-olds and 7 percent for 3- to 5-

year-olds). The proportion of 1-

and 2-year-olds never read to

decreased 4 percentage points

from 1994 (from 13 to 9 percent).

Half of all children 1 to 5 years old

in 2000 were read to seven or

more times per week. Of those

children read to by their parents,

children 1 and 2 years old were

read to an average of 7.6 times per

week and children 3 to 5 years old

were read to 6.8 times per week.

By race and ethnicity, one-quarter

of Hispanic children 1 and 2 years

old and 17 percent of those 3 to 5

years old were never read to in the

week preceding the survey,8 which

is significantly higher than the percentages for non-Hispanic White

children and Black children for

both age groups.9 The average

8 Hispanics may be of any race. Data for

the American Indian and Alaska Native population are not shown in this report because

of their small sample size in the 1996 panel

of the Survey of Income and Program

Participation (SIPP). Based on the 1996 SIPP

Panel, Wave 12 child well-being data, 4 percent of the Black population and 6 percent of

the Asian and Pacific Islander population are

also of Hispanic origin. 9 The percents never read to for Black

children 1 to 2 years old and 3 to 5 years

old (10.9 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively) were not statistically different from

each other.
number of times per week that a Higher proportions of children liv- children with parents who had ever

family member read to Hispanic ing with either a never-married married, or had more than a high

children—6.1 times for ages 1 to 2 parent or a parent with a high school education, or had a family

and 5.7 times for ages 3 to 5—was school education or less, or in a income 200 percent or more above

not significantly different from family with income below the poverty. 

each other, but was lower than poverty level, were never read to The average number of times per that reported for non-Hispanic than their counterparts in other liv- week that a parent read to a child White children (8.1 and 7.3, ing arrangements and, hence, was somewhat higher for children respectively). lower proportions were read to 1 and 2 years old with married seven or more times per week than

6 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3.

Reading to Children 1 to 5 Years Old by Any Family Member, by Selected Characteristics:

1994 to 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics

Number of children

Family reading practices

Percent never read

to last week

Percent of children

read to 7 or more

times per week

Average times read

to child per week1

1 and 2

years

3 to 5

years

1 and 2

years

3 to 5

years

1 and 2

years

3 to 5

years

1 and 2

years

3 to 5

years

Total children, 2000 ...........

Sex of Child

7,830 11,780 8.6 7.4 54.8 49.0 7.6 6.8

Female ........................... 3,801 5,808 7.9 7.5 55.5 48.8 7.7 6.8

Male .............................

Race and Ethnicity of Child

4,029 5,971 9.3 7.4 54.1 49.2 7.5 6.8

White ............................ 6,177 9,420 7.7 6.1 56.4 51.9 7.9 7.0

Non-Hispanic. . . . . ............... 5,164 7,631 4.6 3.6 60.9 56.0 8.1 7.3

Black............................. 1,260 1,813 10.9 12.9 47.8 35.5 6.3 5.8

Asian and Pacific Islander .......... 277 391 19.1 10.7 52.3 46.9 8.5 6.3

Hispanic (of any race) . . ............

Marital Status of Parent

1,063 1,928 23.8 17.2 34.2 34.3 6.1 5.7

Married2 .......................... 5,750 8,700 7.2 5.9 57.6 52.0 8.0 7.0

Separated, divorced, widowed....... 647 1,233 11.7 9.0 49.1 42.5 6.5 6.3

Never married .....................

Parent’s Educational Level

1,434 1,846 12.9 13.5 46.0 39.2 6.5 5.8

High school or less ................ 3,490 5,392 14.1 11.8 44.6 40.0 6.3 6.0

Some college ..................... 1,265 2,083 5.7 4.7 58.1 52.7 7.5 7.3

Vocational or associate degree ...... 927 1,399 5.6 3.8 60.3 52.2 8.3 6.6

Bachelor’s degree . . ............... 1,709 2,180 2.9 3.2 66.1 60.9 9.2 7.6

Advanced degree . . . ...............

Poverty Status3

438 725 3.0 2.3 69.8 63.7 9.4 8.5

Below poverty level ................ 1,323 2,006 17.9 13.7 44.3 42.2 6.7 6.0

On or above poverty level .......... 6,296 9,520 6.3 5.9 57.5 50.5 7.8 6.9

100 to 199 percent of poverty ..... 1,681 2,968 10.9 9.0 49.2 44.0 6.7 6.4

200 percent of poverty or higher. . . 4,615 6,552 4.6 4.5 60.5 53.5 8.2 7.2

Total children, 1998 ........... 7,764 12,088 9.3 9.0 51.9 45.9 7.9 6.6

Total children, 19944 ......... 5,777 9,375 12.8 9.1 48.2 46.5 8.9 6.8

1

Based on children reported as being read to one or more times per week.

2

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

3

For families with income reported.

4

Based on those children for whom valid answers were reported (no allocation for nonresponse).

Note: Family members include either parent or any other relative.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data). Current Population

Reports, P70-68, Table 5 (1994 data).
parents than for those with parents

who were other than married (8

and 6.5, respectively). 

For children 3 to 5 years old, those

with married parents were read to

7 times per week, compared with

6.3 times for children of separated,

divorced, or widowed parents, and

5.8 times for children of nevermarried parents.10

By educational level, the average

number of times per week that

parents read to their children was

significantly different between

those children whose parent had a

high school degree or lower and

children whose parent had a higher

education. For example, children 1

and 2 years old whose parent had

a high school degree or lower were

read to, on average, 6.3 times per

week compared to 9.4 times for

children whose parent had an

advanced degree.

For 3- to 5-year-olds, there was a

significant increase in the average

number of times per week that

parents read to their children

between the lowest and highest

levels of education (6 times per

week and 8.5 times per week,

respectively).11

Table 4 shows that, although mothers did the majority of the reading

to their children, fathers were also

involved. Thirty-two percent of all

children 1 to 11 years old were read

U.S. Census Bureau 7

10 The average number of times per week

read to for children 3 to 5 years old with

separated, divorced, or widowed parents

and children 3 to 5 years old with nevermarried parents (6.3 times and 5.8 times,

respectively) were not statistically different

from each other. Also, the average number

of times per week read to for children with

separated, divorced, or widowed parents

was not statistically significant between the

two age groups (1 and 2 versus 3 to 5). 11 The average number of times read to

children per week was not significantly different between children 1 and 2 years old

and children 3 to 5 years old with parents

with either a high school degree or below

and those with an advanced degree.

Table 4.

Reading Practices for Children 1 to 11 Years Old With

Two Parents in the Household: 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

All children Children of Children of

Characteristics with two married unmarried

parents couples couples2

Children 1 to 11 years old with two

parents in the household

Number .................................. 32,079 30,999 1,080

Percent distribution . ....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Not read to by any family member. .......... 19.4 19.3 22.1

Never by mother:.......................... 3.9 4.0 3.3

Never by father1 ........................ 1.9 2.2 2.7

1 to 6 times by father .................... 1.6 1.6 0.6

7 or more times by father ................ 0.4 0.5 -

1 to 6 times by mother: .................... 49.6 49.7 47.6

Never by father ......................... 16.6 16.7 14.0

1 to 6 times by father .................... 31.6 31.6 31.5

7 or more times by father ................ 1.4 1.4 2.1

7 or more times by mother:................. 27.0 27.0 27.0

Never by father ......................... 6.5 6.2 10.9

1 to 6 times by father .................... 10.0 9.8 4.4

7 or more times by father ................ 10.5 10.5 11.7

Children 1 to 5 years old with two

parents in the household

Number .................................. 14,537 13,915 623

Percent distribution . ....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Not read to by any family member. .......... 6.4 6.1 13.4

Never by mother:.......................... 3.0 3.0 2.8

Never by father1 ........................ 1.4 1.4 2.6

1 to 6 times by father .................... 1.1 1.1 0.2

7 or more times by father ................ 0.5 0.5 -

1 to 6 times by mother: .................... 51.7 51.7 50.1

Never by father ......................... 15.3 15.4 13.7

1 to 6 times by father .................... 34.5 34.6 32.8

7 or more times by father ................ 1.9 1.8 3.7

7 or more times by mother:................. 38.9 39.1 33.7

Never by father ......................... 8.0 7.8 13.2

1 to 6 times by father .................... 14.4 14.8 5.3

7 or more times by father ................ 16.5 16.6 15.2

Children 6 to 11 years old with two

parents in the household

Number .................................. 17,542 17,084 458

Percent distribution . ....................... 100.0 100.0 100.0

Not read to by any family member. .......... 30.2 30.0 34.0

Never by mother:.......................... 4.7 4.7 3.8

Never by father ......................... 2.3 2.3 2.8

1 to 6 times by father .................... 1.9 2.0 1.0

7 or more times by father ................ 0.4 0.4 -

1 to 6 times by mother: .................... 47.9 48.0 44.2

Never by father ......................... 17.7 17.8 14.5

1 to 6 times by father .................... 29.3 29.3 29.8

7 or more times by father ................ 1.0 1.0 -

7 or more times by mother:................. 17.2 17.2 17.9

Never by father ......................... 5.3 5.2 7.7

1 to 6 times by father .................... 6.3 6.4 3.2

7 or more times by father ................ 5.6 5.6 7.0

- Represents or round to zero.

1

Children were read to by another family member, for example, a sibling, but not by their parent.

2

Includes only children living with both biological or adoptive parents.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Wave 12.
to one to six times per week by Overall, there was no difference 13 percent of children with unmarboth parents, about the same per- between the proportion of children ried parents. It should be noted

centage as children of both married in unmarried-couple families and that the number of children living

and unmarried couples where the children in married-couple families with both parents who were unmarbiological father was present. In who were never read to by any fam- ried was relatively small (1 million)

addition, there was no significant ily member (22 percent compared compared with the number living

difference between children with with 19 percent, respectively). By with both parents who were marmarried parents and children with age, however, there was a signifi- ried (31 million). These data sugunmarried parents in the proportion cant difference for children 1 to 5 gest that children and parents interbeing read to seven or more times years old: 6 percent of children with act as a family unit on the issue of

per week by both parents (11 per- married parents were never read to reading to children even if the parcent and 12 percent, respectively). by a family member compared to ents are not married to each other.

8 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 5.

Family Television Rules for Children 3 to 17 Years Old by Selected Characteristics:

1994 to 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics

Number of children

Family television rules

Percent with at least

one television rule

Percent with three types

of television rules

3 to 5

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

3 to 5

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

3 to 5

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

Total children, 2000 ........

Sex of Child

11,780 24,581 23,697 89.9 92.0 72.6 64.4 69.0 41.7

Female ........................ 5,808 11,998 11,526 89.0 91.8 71.5 63.3 69.2 40.9

Male ..........................

Race and Ethnicity of Child

5,971 12,583 12,171 90.7 92.3 73.6 65.5 68.7 42.5

White.......................... 9,420 19,340 18,678 90.3 92.8 73.5 63.9 68.8 41.1

Non-Hispanic................. 7,631 15,080 15,301 91.8 93.9 74.2 64.0 68.5 40.3

Black . . . ....................... 1,813 4,061 3,745 88.3 89.5 69.6 68.3 69.9 45.6

Asian and Pacific Islander ....... 391 846 834 86.2 88.9 70.2 61.3 69.8 44.8

Hispanic (of any race) ...........

Marital Status of Parent

1,928 4,520 3,683 83.7 89.1 69.6 64.2 70.3 44.3

Married1 ....................... 8,700 17,858 16,787 91.0 92.8 75.3 66.2 70.5 43.8

Separated, divorced, widowed.... 1,233 4,047 5,431 89.9 90.9 65.3 63.2 68.1 34.5

Never married ..................

Parent’s Educational Level

1,846 2,676 1,480 84.4 88.4 68.5 56.9 59.9 44.2

High school or less ............. 5,393 11,990 11,665 86.2 89.6 70.2 60.5 66.8 40.0

Some college .................. 2,083 4,385 4,110 92.4 94.1 73.9 64.2 69.5 44.0

Vocational or associate degree . . . 1,399 3,236 3,420 92.2 92.7 75.6 63.0 68.0 41.5

Bachelor’s degree .............. 2,180 3,784 3,063 92.9 95.3 76.4 72.0 73.3 43.9

Advanced degree ...............

Poverty Status2

725 1,186 1,440 96.6 97.1 72.6 74.0 77.5 45.0

Below poverty level ............. 2,006 4,379 3,476 84.5 87.4 71.9 59.8 66.0 44.4

On or above poverty level ....... 9,520 19,663 19,861 90.6 93.0 72.7 65.1 69.5 41.3

100 to 199 percent of poverty .

200 percent of poverty or

2,968 5,956 5,353 88.0 89.4 71.3 64.7 68.0 41.5

higher ...................... 6,552 13,707 14,508 91.7 94.6 73.2 65.3 70.1 41.2

Total children, 1998 ........ 12,088 24,095 23,345 89.4 93.3 75.3 61.6 65.2 41.0

Total children, 19943 ....... 9,576 19,472 17,683 91.3 94.7 79.2 54.0 60.3 40.2

1

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

2

For families with income reported.

3

Based on those children for whom valid answers were reported (no allocation for nonresponse).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data). Current Population

Reports, P70-68, Table 8 (1994 data).
Family rules about television

The SIPP child well-being module

inquired about constraints placed

on children’s television (TV) rules

by asking if parents imposed rules

on any of three issues: type of

program watched, time of day

(how early or late the TV was on),

and the number of hours watched.

In 2000, 84 percent of children 3 to

17 years old (50.4 million) lived in

households with at least one type

of family TV rule: 90 percent of 3-

to 5-year-olds, 92 percent of 6- to

11-year-olds, but only 73 percent of

children 12 to 17 years old lived in

families with TV rules that pertained

to them (Table 5).

About 67 percent of children 3 to

11 years old and 42 percent of

children aged 12 to 17 had all

three types of TV rules. Parents

may think older children are able

to make their own choices on TV

programs, times of day, and hours

watched as they gain maturity and

responsibility with age. 

Children 3 to 5 years old living

with a parent with a high school

diploma or less education were

less likely to have at least one TV

rule (86 percent) than children living with a parent with a bachelor’s

degree (93 percent) or with an

advanced degree (97 percent).

Children 3 to 5 years old whose

parents had the lowest education

were also less likely to have all

three types of TV rules (61 percent) compared with 72 percent of

children living with a parent with a

bachelor’s degree or 74 percent

with an advanced degree.12

Higher proportions of rules for

children with a parent having

advanced degrees than with a high

school education or less were

noted within each age group for

children 6 to 11 years and 12 to

17 years. 

Do parents who exercise stricter

control over their children’s TV

viewing habits spend more time

reading to their children than parents who are more lenient in setting

TV rules? Figure 1 shows these

family decisions and behaviors for

children 3 to 5 years old, an age

when pre-school reading habits are

beginning to develop. More than

one-half of children 3 to 5 years old

who had three types of television

rules were read to by their parents

seven or more times per week.

Only 6 percent of these children

were not read to at all. For children

living in families with no TV rules

(which included children whose parents may have answered no

because no television was in the

household), only 31 percent were

read to by a family member seven

or more times per week, and an

additional 17 percent were not read

to at all by their parents in the

week preceding the survey. More

information would be needed to

know if some families decide to use

TV as a substitute for reading.

Outings in the last month

Children may benefit from experiences outside the household and

school settings. The 2000 SIPP

asked how many times in the past

month the parent or a family member took the child on any kind of

outing—for example, to a park, a

church, a playground, a grocery

store, or a visit with friends or relatives.13 Of the 48 million children

under 12 years old, 2.4 million, or

5 percent, were not taken on outings with a parent or a family

member in the past month. The

average number of outings per

month for children who went on

one or more outings was 12.3

times per month.

Figure 2 looks at outings by poverty status and race. Non-Hispanic

U.S. Census Bureau 9

12 The percentage of children 3 to 5 years

old with three TV rules living with a parent

with a bachelor’s degree was not statistically

different from the percentage of children 3

to 5 years old with three TV rules living with

a parent with an advanced degree. 

13 The survey did not collect information

on which of the outings the child went on,

just the number of times the child went on

any outing. 

Figure 1.

Percent Distribution of Number of Times Per Week 

Family Members Read to Children 3 to 5 Years Old 

by Presence of Television Rules: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 

1996 Panel, Wave 12.

All 3 types

of TV rules

1 or 2 types

of TV rules

No TV rules

Total

Not read 

to at all

Read to 1 to 6 

times per week

Read to 7 or more 

times per week

52.3

7.4 43.6 49.0

17.1 52.1 30.8

7.5 44.5 48.0

5.9 41.9
White children experienced more

outings than either Black children

or Hispanic children, regardless of

poverty status. Both non-Hispanic

White and Black children were

taken on significantly more outings

if their family poverty status was

200 percent of poverty or higher

than children in families living

below the poverty level. The difference in the average number of

outings for Hispanic children

below the poverty level and those

at 100 to 199 percent of poverty

(9.5 outings and 8.9 outings,

respectively) is not statistically significant; however, Hispanic children

living in families at 200 percent of

poverty or higher had significantly

more outings per month than

those living in families at 100 to

199 percent of poverty (10.1 outings and 8.9 outings, respectively).

PARTICIPATION IN

EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES

In this report, data about participation in extracurricular activities

were limited to children 6 to 17

years old and were based on parents’ responses to questions about

children’s involvement in three

extracurricular activities: sports,

clubs, and lessons. Participation in

sports teams includes those sponsored by schools or those in organized leagues. Clubs include

Scouts, a religious group, a Girls or

Boys Club, or 4-H activities.

Lessons were interpreted very

broadly to include those taken

after school or on weekends in

subjects like music, dance, language, computers, or religion.

Examining activities other than

attending classes provides a more

complete picture of academic

experiences than considering

grades alone. These activities can

influence how a child makes the

transition to adulthood. 

Nationally, 59 percent of children 6 the same time period, participation

to 17 years old (28.4 million) par- in lessons increased: for children 6

ticipated in at least one of the to 11 years old, from 24 percent to

three extracurricular activities in 32 percent, and among older chil2000. Table 6 shows more dren, from 19 percent to 26 perdetailed activity levels by the chil- cent. Many extended care (or afterdren’s ages and the three specified care) programs in schools offer

types of extracurricular activities. lessons to children and could

Overall, 31 percent of 6- to 11- account for the increases during

year-olds and 37 percent of 12- to this period. 

17-year-olds participated in sports While older children were more activities, both down from their likely to participate in sports than 1994 activity levels of 34 percent younger children, participation in and 42 percent, respectively. clubs did not vary by age, reaching

A similar decrease between 1994 about 34 percent of each age

and 2000 was seen for children par- group. On the other hand, chilticipating in clubs, with one-third of dren in the youngest age group

children in both younger and older had a higher proportion (32 perage groups participating in club cent) taking lessons after school or

activities in 2000 compared with on weekends than older children

39 percent for the younger age (26 percent). Older children may

group and 43 percent for older age choose to cease lessons that no

group in 1994. However, during longer interest them. 

10 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 2.

Percent of Children Having One or More Outings and 

Average Number of Outings in the Last Month for 

Children Under 12 Years Old by Race, Ethnicity, 

and Family Poverty Status: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 

1996 Panel, Wave 12.

Below poverty level

100 to 199 percent of poverty level 

200 percent of poverty level or higher

Hispanic (of any race)

Black

Non-Hispanic White

10.1

11.9

12.5

13.8

10.4

10.6

11.8

9.5

8.9

Percent 

1+

outings Average number of outings for children with 1+ outings

91.4

91.4

94.2

95.2

96.8

97.7

85.9

89.3

94.5
For both age groups, higher pro- clubs, while 37 percent of girls and Sports activities may involve

portions of boys than girls tended 28 percent of boys participated in expenditures on the part of parto play sports: 37 percent and 24 lessons. ents that may influence the participercent, respectively, for 6- to 11- pation level of the child. Only 16

year-olds; and 42 percent and 33 Among 6- to 11-year-olds, 37 per- percent of children 6 to 11 years

percent, respectively, for 12- to 17- cent of White non-Hispanic children old who are living in poverty paryear-olds. On the other hand, participated in sports activities, ticipated in sports activities, comhigher proportions of girls than higher than that recorded for the pared with 34 percent of children

boys participated in clubs and other race and Hispanic groups, living on or above the poverty

lessons. Among children 6 to 11 which averaged between 20 and level. 

years old, 36 percent of girls and 22 percent and which were not sig32 percent of boys participated in nificantly different from each other.

U.S. Census Bureau 11

Table 6.

Extracurricular Activities of School Age Children by Selected Characteristics:

1994 to 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Number of children

Percent participating in specified extracurricular activity

Sports Clubs Lessons

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

6 to 11

years

12 to 17

years

Total children, 2000 ...........

Sex of Child

24,581 23,697 30.6 37.2 33.8 34.4 32.0 26.2

Female ........................... 11,998 11,526 24.4 32.5 36.0 37.5 36.8 30.2

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race and Ethnicity of Child

12,583 12,171 36.5 41.6 31.8 31.4 27.5 22.3

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,340 18,678 33.4 39.2 35.7 36.4 33.5 27.5

Non-Hispanic.................... 15,080 15,301 36.7 41.7 39.9 39.4 37.1 29.1

Black. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,061 3,745 20.6 30.5 27.6 25.0 25.4 19.4

Asian and Pacific Islander .......... 846 834 20.4 25.7 27.1 31.5 36.0 33.1

Hispanic (of any race)..............

Marital Status of Parent

4,520 3,683 21.5 28.0 20.2 22.9 20.7 20.3

Married1 .......................... 17,858 16,787 34.7 40.2 37.2 37.9 36.1 29.3

Separated, divorced, widowed....... 4,047 5,431 25.1 30.3 26.7 27.7 22.5 19.8

Never married .....................

Parent’s Educational Level

2,676 1,480 18.6 28.3 22.1 19.1 20.0 14.2

High school or less ................ 11,990 11,665 23.5 29.6 24.9 26.2 21.5 19.6

Some college ..................... 4,385 4,110 31.1 40.1 36.0 37.6 35.1 28.6

Vocational or associate degree ...... 3,236 3,420 35.1 39.8 40.9 39.6 37.6 29.1

Bachelor’s degree ................. 3,784 3,063 42.9 49.3 47.9 46.7 50.0 37.7

Advanced degree ..................

Poverty Status2

1,186 1,440 48.9 58.4 52.8 52.6 54.6 41.2

Below poverty level ................ 4,379 3,476 15.9 24.9 22.8 23.2 18.6 17.9

On or above poverty level .......... 19,663 19,861 34.3 39.6 36.6 36.6 35.3 27.9

100 to 199 percent of poverty .... 5,956 5,353 24.1 30.7 27.2 29.5 23.7 20.8

200 percent of poverty or higher. . . 13,707 14,508 38.7 42.9 40.7 39.2 40.3 30.5

Total children, 1998 ........... 24,095 23,345 31.7 39.4 34.4 35.3 30.8 26.9

Total children, 19943 ......... 19,426 17,665 34.3 42.2 38.8 42.5 23.7 19.1

1

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

2

For families with incomes reported.

3

Number of children varied by activity depending on those reporting valid answers and were approximately 19.4 million 6- to 11-year-olds and 17.6 million

12- to 17-year-olds.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data). Current Population Reports,

P70-68, Table 11 (1994 data).
Among the grade-school-age children, Table 6 also shows that children living with two married parents—who may have more

economic resources to spend on

their children—participated to a

greater extent (35 percent) than do

children living with formerly married parents (25 percent) or nevermarried parents (19 percent). This

type of activity, which often

requires parental participation,

may also be more likely to occur if

a child is living with two parents

rather than one parent. Also noted

in Table 6 is that the level of participation is twice as high for children whose parents have advanced

degrees (49 percent) as children

whose parents have a high school

or less level of education (24 percent). 

Figure 3 shows that the poverty

status of the child’s family played

an important role in participation

in all three activities. A child who

lived in a household with sufficient

income to afford activities fees was

more likely to participate in sports,

clubs, or lessons. Within each

specified activity, children whose

family poverty status was 200 percent of poverty or higher had

greater activity participation levels

than children living below the

poverty level or those whose

poverty status was 100 to 199 percent of poverty. Children living

below the poverty level might have

an opportunity to participate in

programs that have little or no

cost, or, as in the case of playing

sports for their schools, programs

whose costs are offset by other

funding sources. 

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Children’s academic achievement in

this report is analyzed by considering outcomes, such as being

academically “on-track” (i.e.,

enrolled in school at or above the

modal grade level for their age), on staying on-track: 73 percent of

taking classes for gifted students, children who had never changed

changing schools, repeating schools remained on-track, comgrades, and being suspended. pared with 70 percent who had

changed schools. Suspension from

Academically on-track school, which can be an indicator of

emotional or adjustment problems, Nationally, 72 percent of children was also closely related to being 12 to 17 years old were academi- academically on-track: sixty-three cally on-track for their age (see percent of children who had been Table 7). Girls were more likely to suspended were on-track, compared be on-track than boys—79 percent with 73 percent of children who and 69 percent, respectively. had never been suspended. 

Are students able to stay on-track, Enrolled in gifted classes even when experiencing changes,

such as a parent’s divorce or attend- The SIPP child well-being module

ing a new school? Children 12 to also asked parents if their children

17 years old were more likely to were in a special class for gifted

stay on-track if their parents were students or did advanced work in

married (74 percent), compared any subjects (Table 8). Thirteen

with those with separated, percent of children 6 to 11 years

divorced, or widowed parents old and 22 percent of children 12 to

(67 percent), and those with 17 years old were in such classes,

never-married parents (66 percent). which include honors and advanced

Changing schools had some affect placement classes in high school.

12 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 3.

Percent of Children 6 to 17 Years Old 

Participating in Extracurricular Activities 

by Family Poverty Status: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 

1996 Panel, Wave 12.

Below poverty level

100 to 199 percent of poverty level 

200 percent of poverty level or higher

Sports Clubs Lessons

40.9 39.9

35.2

27.2 28.3

22.3 19.9

23.0

18.3
Half (49 percent) of children 12 to

17 years old whose parent had an

advanced degree were in gifted

classes, compared with only 14 percent of children whose parent had

attained a high school education or

lower. The proportion in gifted

classes was also higher for children

aged 12 to 17 whose parents were

married (24 percent) than for children living with separated,

divorced, or widowed parents, or

never-married parents (17 percent

and 12 percent, respectively).

Among 12- to 17-year-olds whose

family poverty status was 200 percent of poverty or higher, 26 percent were attending gifted classes,

compared with only 14 percent of

children living below poverty. It is

possible that these differences in

gifted class enrollment reflect the

availability of classes offered at the

schools the children were attending.

Changing schools

Not including the normal progression and graduation from elementary and middle schools, 23 percent

of children aged 6 to 11 and 

40 percent of children aged 12 to

17 who had ever attended or been

enrolled in first grade or higher had

changed schools at some time in

their educational careers (see Table

8). The higher number for older

children is normal as these children

have had more time to experience a

change. Changing schools can be

disruptive because children usually

have to make new friends, adjust to

new teachers, and become integrated into a different school setting

and routine. A change in schools

may have been prompted by a residential move, a change in schooldistrict boundaries, failure at another school, or a change in their

household structure or finances,

U.S. Census Bureau 13

Table 7.

Children 12 to 17 Years Old Academically On-Track:

1994 to 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic All currently enrolled Percent on-track

Total children, 2000 ..................

Age of Child

23,008 71.8

12 years ................................. 3,848 74.5

13 years ................................. 3,857 73.7

14 years ................................. 3,947 73.4

15 years ................................. 3,772 75.7

16 years ................................. 3,983 68.5

17 years .................................

Sex of Child

3,602 64.5

Female................................... 11,215 78.8

Male .....................................

Race and Ethnicity of Child

11,793 68.5

White .................................... 18,149 72.3

Non-Hispanic . .......................... 14,888 72.1

Black . . . ................................. 3,636 68.4

Asian and Pacific Islander .................. 817 80.4

Hispanic (of any race) .....................

Marital Status of Parents

3,564 72.4

Married1

.................................. 16,340 73.8

Separated, divorced, widowed .............. 5,250 67.2

Never married . ...........................

Participation in at Least One

Extracurricular Activity

1,418 65.6

Participated in an extracurricular activity . . . . .

Did not participate in an extracurricular

14,054 73.9

acitvity ..................................

Poverty Status2

8,954 68.6

Below poverty level........................ 3,309 62.7

On or above poverty level .................. 14,220 73.4

100 to 199 percent of poverty............. 5,199 68.2

200 percent of poverty or higher ..........

Ever Changed Schools3

14,165 75.4

Changed schools.......................... 9,215 70.1

Did not change schools ....................

Ever Suspended

13,793 72.9

Suspended from school .................... 2,401 63.3

Never suspended from school .............. 20,607 72.8

Total children, 1998 .................. 22,782 71.1

Total children, 19944 ................. 18,118 69.3

1

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

2

Families with income reported.

3

Does not include the normal progression and graduation from elementary and middle schools.

4

Based on those children for whom valid answers were reported (no allocation for nonresponse).

Includes children who are not currently enrolled.

Note: Children are generally considered on-track when they are enrolled at or above the modal

grade for their age (the grade at which most children of a given age are enrolled).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6

and 12 (1998 and 2000 data). Current Population Reports, Series P70-68, Table 15 (1994 data).
which could be caused by a separa- or widowed had changed schools Black children 6 to 11 years old

tion or divorce of parents. For (46 percent) than children with tended to change schools at a

example, a higher proportion of married parents (39 percent) or higher rate than did non-Hispanic

children 12 to 17 years old whose those with never-married parents White children, Asian and Pacific

parents were separated, divorced, (36 percent). Islander children, or Hispanic

14 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 8.

Academic Achievement of School Age Children„Selected

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics: 1994 to 2000

Characteristic

Gifted classes1 Change of schools2 Ever repeated a grade3 Ever suspended1

6 to 11 years 12 to 17 years 6 to 11 years 12 to 17 years 6 to 11 years 12 to 17 years 12 to 17 years

Total Total Total Total Total Total Total num- Per- num- Per- num- num- num- Percent num- Percent num- Percent

ber of cent in ber of cent in ber of Percent ber of Percent ber of ever re- ber of ever re- ber of ever chil- gifted chil- gifted chil- changed chil- changed chil- peated chil- peated chil- sus- dren classes dren classes dren schools dren schools dren a grade dren a grade dren pended

Total children, 2000

Sex of Child

24,015 12.7 23,008 21.8 24,037 23.3 23,086 40.1 24,214 5.3 23,417 10.7 23,008 10.4

Female ............... 11,685 13.1 11,215 23.5 11,702 23.8 11,251 40.5 11,810 4.3 11,413 8.7 11,215 7.0

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race and Ethnicity of

Child

12,330 12.3 11,793 20.2 12,335 22.8 11,834 39.7 12,404 6.2 12,004 12.7 11,793 13.7

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,882 13.4 18,149 22.5 18,905 22.5 18,214 40.1 19,046 4.9 18,465 9.5 18,149 9.0

Non-Hispanic ........ 14,671 14.7 14,888 24.3 14,693 22.1 14,935 40.3 14,813 4.9 15,123 9.4 14,888 9.3

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Asian and Pacific

4,005 10.0 3,636 18.4 4,005 27.9 3,642 39.2 4,029 7.7 3,710 17.2 3,636 17.9

Islander.............. 818 11.8 817 27.5 818 19.9 821 35.2 818 2.6 824 6.4 817 5.3

Hispanic (of any race) . . .

Marital Status of Parent

4,466 9.1 3,564 14.3 4,466 23.1 3,582 39.4 4,488 4.6 3,648 11.3 3,564 8.5

Married4 ..............

Separated, divorced,

17,393 13.6 16,340 24.1 17,410 21.3 16,389 38.6 17,544 4.4 16,552 8.2 16,340 8.1

widowed ............. 3,994 10.3 5,250 17.2 3,998 29.1 5,280 45.8 4,020 7.3 5,397 15.9 5,250 16.2

Never married..........

Parent’s Educational

Level

2,628 10.2 1,418 12.4 2,628 27.7 1,418 36.0 2,650 7.7 1,468 20.5 1,418 16.6

High school or less...... 11,741 8.6 11,220 14.4 11,746 24.1 11,277 39.0 11,837 6.4 11,509 13.6 11,220 11.6

Some college ..........

Vocational or associate

4,249 15.4 4,012 22.3 4,258 25.0 4,015 44.8 4,305 4.9 4,076 9.9 4,012 11.7

degree .............. 3,172 13.4 3,352 23.4 3,176 22.4 3,367 41.4 3,198 4.9 3,390 8.7 3,352 9.9

Bachelor’s degree....... 3,684 19.6 2,998 34.2 3,689 21.1 3,003 37.7 3,703 3.5 3,010 5.9 2,998 6.3

Advanced degree .......

Poverty Status5

1,169 21.2 1,424 48.9 1,169 18.2 1,424 37.2 1,172 1.4 1,431 4.9 1,424 5.7

Below poverty level .....

On or above poverty

4,239 7.6 3,309 13.7 4,244 26.6 3,334 41.6 4,268 8.7 3,416 19.3 3,309 14.5

level ................

100 to 199 percent of

19,249 14.0 19,364 23.4 19,267 22.4 19,413 39.6 19,416 4.5 19,653 9.2 19,364 9.5

poverty ............

200 percent of poverty

5,801 10.5 5,199 15.9 5,815 24.3 5,217 39.4 5,883 6.6 5,302 13.7 5,199 11.9

or higher ........... 13,448 15.5 14,165 26.2 13,452 21.6 14,196 39.7 13,533 3.6 14,351 7.5 14,165 8.7

Total children, 1998 . 23,704 12.7 22,782 21.4 23,734 18.7 22,869 43.5 23,835 5.8 23,204 12.1 22,782 11.8

Total children, 19946 18,952 12.5 NA NA 18,885 29.5 16,888 51.6 18,936 6.6 17,058 15.9 17,003 10.3

NA Not available. The question on gifted classes was not asked of children 12 to 17 years old in 1994.

1

Includes children currently enrolled in school.

2

Includes children who have ever attended or been enrolled in first grade or higher. Does not include the normal progression and graduation from elementary and middle schools. 3

Includes children who have ever attended or been enrolled in kindergarten or higher.

4

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

5

Families with income reported.

6

Based on those children for whom valid answers were reported (no allocation for nonresponse).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data). Current Population

Reports, Series P70-68, Table 13 (1994 data).
children. These differences disap- Only 6 percent of children whose education or less (45 percent and

peared for children aged 12 to 17. parent had earned a bachelor’s 16 percent, respectively).

All race and ethnic groups fell into degree or an advanced degree had Conversely, 29 percent of children

the 35 to 40 percent range, with ever been suspended, compared whose parents had a high school

White, Black, and Hispanic children with 12 percent of those whose education or less were expected to

having virtually the same propor- parent had either a high school achieve less than a college educations who had changed schools education or less, or had some col- tion, compared with only 7 percent

(40 percent, 39 percent, and lege education but had not of children whose parents had an

39 percent, respectively). attained a degree. advanced degree. 

Thirty percent of children whose Ever repeated a grade EDUCATIONAL

EXPECTATIONS families were below the poverty

Children who repeat a grade are level were expected by their parnot likely to stay academically on- The 2000 SIPP asked parents about ents to achieve less than a college

track. Five percent of children 6 to their educational expectations for education compared with only 

11 years old and 11 percent of each child. Parents were asked 15 percent of children whose famichildren 12 to 17 years old had both how far they would like their ly poverty status was 200 percent

repeated a grade. Repeating a child to go in school and the edu- of poverty or higher. Only 17 pergrade was more common for Black cational level they thought their cent of parents living below poverchildren of both age groups than child would actually achieve. As ty anticipated that their children

for non-Hispanic White children, their children grow up, parents would go beyond college, comAsian and Pacific Islander children, gain insight about each child’s edu- pared with 25 percent of children

cational potential; they have a or Hispanic children. Children living in families 200 percent

clearer idea of the financial sup- aged 12 to 17 living below the above the poverty level. However,

port they can provide; and their poverty level were twice as likely the majority of parents in both

expectations and evaluations may to have repeated a grade (19 per- poverty statuses believed their

change. Table 9 shows that the cent) as children whose family children would be college gradumajority of children under age 18 poverty status was 200 percent of ates.

had parents who wanted them to poverty or higher (8 percent). have a college education or PARENTS’ FEELINGS

Ever suspended beyond (86 percent). However, the TOWARD THEIR CHILDREN

proportion of children whose par- Parents of children aged 12 to 17 Parents in the 2000 SIPP child well- ents thought they would achieve a were asked if their children had being module were asked how college education and beyond was ever been expelled or suspended often they felt that their children only 79 percent. 

from school. Ten percent of chil- were hard to care for, did things

dren aged 12 to 17 (2.4 million) The proportions of children whose that really bothered them, took up

had been suspended at least once, parents wanted them to go beyond more of their life than expected,

and the suspension rate was twice college differed widely according and whether they felt angry with

to the parent’s level of education. their child. Response categories as high for boys (14 percent) as for

Parents with advanced degrees that measured how frequently girls (7 percent). The proportion

were twice as likely as parents these feelings occurred were suspended was higher for Black

with a high school education or “never,” “sometimes,” “often,” or children (18 percent), compared less to want their children to get “very often.” Questions were only with non-Hispanic Whites (9 per- an education beyond college asked once of each designated par- cent), Asians and Pacific Islanders (50 percent compared with 21 per- ent; therefore, answers pertained (5 percent), and Hispanics (9 per- cent, respectively). When looking to all their children. For two of the cent). Fewer children living with at whether the parents thought four questions on parental feel- married parents had ever been sus- their child could achieve an educa- ings, the most frequent answer pended (8 percent) than children tion beyond college, expectations category was “never”—their chil- living with separated, divorced, or were lower by about 5 percentage dren were never hard to care for or widowed parents (16 percent), or points for children whose parent never took up much time. The those living with never-married had an advanced degree and those most frequent answer category for parents (17 percent). whose parent had a high school questions on how often their

U.S. Census Bureau 15
children bothered them a lot or (Table 10). By age of parent, a than their own. A greater proporhow often they felt angry with higher proportion of the older par- tion of married parents (71 pertheir children was “sometimes.” ents—those aged 35 and over— cent) felt their children were never

said “never” than those under age hard to care for than parents who

Child hard to care for 25 (70 percent and 65 percent, were separated, divorced, or widrespectively). This difference may owed, or parents who were never Of the 39.8 million parents in the reflect the fact that older parents married (both 63 percent). Parents survey, 69 percent said they never usually have more experience who were separated, divorced, or felt their child was much harder to raising children and observing widowed had a slightly higher pro- care for than most children other children being more difficult portion (7 percent) stating that

16 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 9.

Educational Expectations of Parents for Their Children Under 18 Years by Selected

Characteristics: 1998 and 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

All

children

Education level parent wants for child

(percent distribution)

Education level parent thinks child

will achieve (percent distribution)

Total

Less than

college

graduate

College

graduate

More

education

and training after

college Total

Less than

college

graduate

College

graduate

More

education

and training after

college

Total children, 2000 .........

Sex of Child

71,663 100.0 14.2 57.8 28.0 100.0 20.7 57.1 22.2

Female.......................... 34,947 100.0 13.4 58.9 27.8 100.0 19.5 58.1 22.5

Male ............................

Age of Child

36,716 100.0 15.0 56.8 28.2 100.0 21.9 56.2 21.9

Under 12 years .................. 47,966 100.0 12.6 58.1 29.3 100.0 18.0 58.9 23.1

12 to 17 years ...................

Race and Ethnicity of Child

23,697 100.0 17.4 57.2 25.4 100.0 26.2 53.5 20.3

White ........................... 56,694 100.0 13.4 58.9 27.5 100.0 20.2 58.2 21.6

Non-Hispanic . ................. 45,826 100.0 12.4 60.0 27.6 100.0 18.8 59.2 21.9

Black . . . ........................ 11,377 100.0 16.7 53.0 30.3 100.0 23.6 52.7 23.7

Asian and Pacific Islander ......... 2,509 100.0 9.2 55.5 35.3 100.0 11.8 57.3 30.9

Hispanic (of any race) ............

Marital Status of Parent

11,636 100.0 19.6 53.6 26.8 100.0 26.2 53.1 20.7

Married1

......................... 51,885 100.0 12.1 58.3 29.6 100.0 17.9 58.5 23.6

Separated, divorced, widowed ..... 11,538 100.0 19.3 58.3 22.4 100.0 27.8 55.6 16.6

Never married . ..................

Parent’s Educational Level

8,240 100.0 20.1 53.8 26.1 100.0 28.8 50.4 20.8

High school or less ............... 34,168 100.0 21.0 58.3 20.7 100.0 28.9 55.0 16.1

Some college .................... 12,482 100.0 10.4 60.0 29.6 100.0 18.2 60.3 21.5

Vocational or associate degree..... 9,426 100.0 9.4 60.4 30.2 100.0 15.2 61.5 23.3

Bachelor’s degree ................ 11,617 100.0 5.8 55.8 38.4 100.0 8.4 59.5 32.1

Advanced degree ................

Poverty Status2

3,970 100.0 3.3 46.5 50.2 100.0 6.5 48.3 45.2

Below poverty level............... 11,714 100.0 22.9 55.2 21.9 100.0 30.4 52.8 16.8

On or above poverty level ......... 58,526 100.0 12.3 58.3 29.4 100.0 18.5 58.1 23.3

100 to 199 percent of poverty.... 16,638 100.0 19.1 56.9 24.0 100.0 26.8 54.4 18.8

200 percent of poverty or higher . 41,888 100.0 9.6 58.9 31.5 100.0 15.3 59.6 25.1

Total children, 1998 ......... 71,088 100.0 14.3 59.6 26.1 100.0 22.1 58.2 19.7

1

Married Includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

2

For families with income reported.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data).
their child was often or very often harder to care for than other chil- below poverty. Examining the

harder to care for than most chil- dren. responses of parents who felt their

dren, compared with married par- child was often or very often hardents (5 percent). The challenge of Seventy-one percent of parents er to care for than most children, 

caring for a child alone after shar- who were living 200 percent or 7 percent of parents below poverty

ing the responsibility with another more above poverty never felt that status felt that way, compared with

person and possibly having had a their child was harder to care for 5 percent of parents who lived at

second income may cause a parent than most children, compared with 200 percent of poverty or higher.

to perceive his or her child as 62 percent of parents who lived

U.S. Census Bureau 17

Table 10.

Parent s Feeling Toward Their Children by Selected Characteristics: 1998 and 2000

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristics

All

parents

Percent reporting that:

Child is much harder

to care for than most

children

Child does things

that really bother

me a lot

Child takes up more

time than expected

Parent feels angry

with child

Never

Often or

very

often Never

Often or

very

often Never

Often or

very

often Never

Often or

very

often

Total, 2000 . .................

Age of Parent

39,836 68.7 5.4 43.3 5.1 49.4 15.4 44.5 2.4

Under 25 years old ............... 3,164 64.5 6.2 49.7 5.0 50.9 17.2 53.2 1.4

25 to 34 years old . . .............. 13,083 68.2 5.2 44.9 5.9 50.2 15.0 47.9 2.9

35 years and over ................

Race and Ethnicity of Parent

23,590 69.5 5.4 41.5 4.7 48.8 15.4 41.5 2.2

White ........................... 31,557 69.1 5.6 43.1 4.9 50.2 15.2 43.7 2.2

Non-Hispanic . . . .............. 26,179 69.5 5.7 41.0 5.3 49.1 15.9 42.7 2.3

Black . . . ........................ 6,220 68.7 4.7 42.8 6.8 45.8 17.1 49.1 3.1

Asian and Pacific Islander ......... 1,534 65.7 5.6 52.3 3.0 51.9 13.7 49.3 2.0

Hispanic (of any race) ............

Marital Status of Parent

5,834 67.5 5.0 53.0 3.0 54.6 12.3 49.1 1.7

Married1

......................... 27,885 71.2 4.8 44.6 4.0 52.2 13.8 45.2 1.9

Separated, divorced, widowed ..... 6,902 62.8 7.3 38.5 7.8 43.2 19.2 40.9 3.6

Never married . ..................

Parent’s Educational Level

5,049 62.8 6.3 42.4 7.7 42.6 19.2 45.9 3.5

High school or less ............... 18,477 66.8 5.6 43.7 6.1 49.4 16.2 45.4 2.7

Some college .................... 7,143 69.4 4.5 43.2 5.4 47.9 15.2 42.8 2.5

Vocational or associate degree..... 5,442 71.1 5.6 41.3 5.0 49.5 15.1 43.2 2.2

Bachelor’s degree ................ 6,451 69.5 5.7 42.8 3.1 50.4 14.4 44.1 1.8

Advanced degree ................

Poverty Status2

2,322 73.5 4.7 46.3 2.1 51.7 13.7 47.8 1.7

Below poverty level............... 5,392 61.6 7.3 40.2 8.1 44.1 20.1 44.3 3.5

On or above poverty level ......... 33,989 70.0 5.1 43.8 4.6 50.4 14.6 44.5 2.2

100 to 199 percent of poverty.... 8,677 65.9 5.9 43.2 6.2 49.2 14.3 44.2 2.6

200 percent of poverty or higher . 25,312 71.4 4.8 43.9 4.0 50.8 14.8 44.6 2.1

Total, 1998 . ................. 39,088 67.8 4.7 40.9 5.5 45.4 18.8 39.0 2.9

1

Married includes married, spouse present and married, spouse absent (excluding separated).

2

For families with income reported.

Note: The questions on feelings toward each designated parent’s child or children were only asked once and refer to all children living with the designated

parent. The omitted category of response, sometimes, would be calculated by subtracting the never and often or very often percent responses from 100 percent

under each question item.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Waves 6 and 12 (1998 and 2000 data).
Figure 4 shows that parents with

three or more own14 children were

less likely than parents with one or

two own children to say that their

child was never harder to care for

than most other children (65 percent compared with 70 percent,

respectively).

Child does things that bother

me a lot

Over one-half of parents (52 percent) said that “sometimes” their

child does things that bother them

a lot.15 Only 5 percent of all parents felt this happened often or

very often, while 43 percent said

their child never did things that

bothered them a lot. Non-Hispanic

White parents and Black parents

18 U.S. Census Bureau

14 Own children are the natural-born,

step, and adopted child of the householder. 15 The response category “sometimes” was

calculated by subtracting the “never” and

“often or very often” percent responses from

100 percent under each question item in

Table 10. The questions on feelings toward

each designated parent’s child or children

were only asked once and refer to all children

living with the designated parent. 

were the least likely never to have

felt that their child did things that

bother them (41 percent and 

43 percent, respectively), compared with Asians and Pacific

Islanders (52 percent) and

Hispanics (53 percent).

Considering the number of children in the family, the data again

show that those with three or more

own children were less likely to

say that their children never did

things that bother them a lot 

(37 percent) than parents who had

one own child (47 percent) or two

own children (42 percent, see

Figure 4). 

Child takes up more time 

than expected

One-half of all parents never felt

that their children’s needs took

more of their life than they expected. However, 15 percent replied

that often or very often their children’s demands used up more of

their time than they had expected.

Married parents were more likely

never to have felt their child was

taking up more time than expected

(52 percent), compared with

separated, divorced, or widowed

parents and never-married parents

(both 43 percent). 

Twenty percent of parents living in

poverty felt their children often or

very often took up more of their

life than expected, in contrast with

parents 200 percent or more above

poverty (15 percent). Parents with

only one or two children were

more likely never to feel that their

children took up more time than

expected (53 percent and 49 percent, respectively) than parents

with three or more own children

(46 percent, see Figure 4). In general, having a larger number of

children in a household creates

greater demands on parents’ time

than fewer children. 

Parent feels angry with child

Only 2 percent of all parents

responded that they felt angry with

Figure 4.

Percent of Parents Responding “Never” to Questions About Frequency of 

Difficulty With Their Children by Number of Own Children in the Family: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Wave 12.

All parents

With one own child

With two own children

With three or more own children

Parent feels angry

with child

Child's needs take up more

of parent's life than expected

Child does things that

bother parent a lot

Child much harder to care

for than most children

64.6

36.9

46.0

39.3

70.0

41.7

48.8

42.4

70.4

47.4

52.5

48.6

68.7

43.3

49.4

44.5
their child often or very often. Children whose parents had higher universe, is composed primarily of

Most parents (53 percent) “some- levels of educational attainment the population in correctional institimes” felt angry, while another were more often read to, required tutions and nursing homes 

large proportion (45 percent) said to follow rules about television, (91 percent of the 4.1 million instithey never were angry with their and more frequently participated in tutionalized population in Census

children. In fact, regardless of the extracurricular activities. They 2000).

characteristics of the parents, also were more likely to be in gift40 percent or more of the parents ed classes, but less likely to have ACCURACY OF THE

said they never were angry with been suspended or to have repeat- ESTIMATES

their children. Non-Hispanic White ed any grades. Parents with high Statistics from surveys are subject

parents were the least likely never levels of education were far more to sampling and nonsampling error.

to have felt angry at their child likely to think their child would All comparisons presented in this

(43 percent), compared with Black complete more education and report have taken sampling error

parents, Asian and Pacific Islander training after college than parents into account and are significant at

parents, and Hispanic parents (all with less education. the 90-percent confidence level.

49 percent). Parents with the most This means the 90-percent confi- Family structure and income affect own children were least likely dence interval for the difference children’s everyday life, whether never to have felt angry with their watching TV at home or participat- between the estimates being comchild (39 percent), compared with pared does not include zero. ing in after school activities. parents with one or two own chil- Nonsampling errors in surveys may Parents’ interactions with their chil- dren (49 and 42 percent, respec- be attributed to a variety of dren and their feelings toward tively). sources, such as how the survey their children influence their chilwas designed, how respondents dren’s future. SUMMARY interpret questions, how able and

This report describes some of the SOURCE OF DATA willing respondents are to provide

important aspects of the well-being correct answers, and how accurate- The population represented (the of children: daily interactions with ly the answers are coded and classi- population universe) in the 1992, parents, participation in extracur- fied. The Census Bureau employs 1993, and 1996 Survey of Income ricular activities, academic achieve- quality control procedures through- and Program Participation (SIPP) is ment, educational expectations of out the production process includ- the civilian noninstitutionalized parents, and parent’s feelings ing the overall design of surveys, population of the United States. toward their children. the wording of questions, review of SIPP is a longitudinal survey con- the work of interviewers and

Relative to children living with a ducted at four-month intervals by coders, and statistical review of single parent, children living with the Census Bureau. The data in reports to minimize these errors. married parents tended to have this report were collected from

more daily interaction with their December 1999 through March The Survey of Income and Program

parents, such as sharing meals and 2000, from December 1997 Participation weighting procedure

talking with one another. Children through March 1998, in the 12th uses ratio estimation whereby samwith married parents experienced and 6th waves (interviews) of the ple estimates are adjusted to indemore restrictions on TV viewing 1996 SIPP and from October 1994 pendent estimates of the national

and were read to more often than through January 1995 in the 9th population by age, race, sex, and

children in single-parent families. wave of the 1992 SIPP and the 6th Hispanic origin. This weighting parOne benefit of living in a two- wave of the 1993 SIPP. tially corrects for bias due to underparent household—whether mar- coverage, but biases may still be Although the main focus of the ried or unmarried—is illustrated by present when people who are SIPP is information on labor force the number of times both parents missed by the survey differ from participation, jobs, income, and read to their child at home. those interviewed in ways other participation in federal assistance Children of married parents were than age, race, sex, and Hispanic programs, information on other also more likely to participate in origin. How this weighting proce- topics is also collected in topical extracurricular activities and to dure affects other variables in the

modules on a rotating basis. The progress more steadily in school survey is not precisely known. All institutionalized population, which by keeping academically on-track. of these considerations affect

is excluded from the population

U.S. Census Bureau 19
comparisons across different sur- 1994 data, is also found on this contact the author of this report by 

veys or data sources. page. e-mail. 

For further information on the Other research on child well-being Terry Lugaila

source of the data and accuracy of from the SIPP can be found in the Terry.A.Lugaila@census.gov

the estimates including standard following reports: Jason M. Fields

errors and confidence intervals, go and Kristin E. Smith, Poverty, USER COMMENTS

to www.sipp.census.gov/sipp/ Family Structure, and Child Well- The Census Bureau welcomes the

sourceac/s&a96_040501.pdf or Being: Indicators From the SIPP, comments and advice of users of

contact David Hall of the Census Population Division Working Paper its data and reports. If you have Bureau Demographic Statistical Series, No. 23, U.S. Census Bureau, any suggestions or comments, Methods Division on the Internet at Washington, DC, 1998; Kristin E. please write to: david.warren.hall@census.gov. Smith, Loretta E. Bass, and Jason M.

Fields, Child Well-Being Indicators Chief, Population Division

MORE INFORMATION From the SIPP, Population Division U.S. Census Bureau

Working Paper Series, No. 24, U.S. Washington, DC 20233 The report as well as detailed Census Bureau, Washington, DC, tables for both 2000 and 1998 are or send an e-mail inquiry to: 1998. Both of these papers are available on the Internet pop@census.gov also on the Internet on the (www.census.gov); search for child

“Population: Working Paper,” section well-being data by clicking on the SUGGESTED CITATION

under “Subjects A to Z.” letter W in the “Subjects A to Z” Lugaila, Terry A., 2003. A Child’s section of the Web page and select- CONTACT Day: 2000 (Selected Indicators of ing “Well-being /Dynamics of Child Well-Being). Current Economic Well-Being.” The previ- For additional child well-being Population Reports, P70-89. U.S. ous report, A Child’s Day: Home, information, you may contact the Census Bureau, Washington, DC. School, and Play (Selected author of this report in the Fertility

Indicators of Child Well-Being), with and Family Statistics Branch on

301-763-2416. You may also

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