• In 2006, there were 73.7 million children ages 0–17 in the United States, or 25 percent of the population, down from 36 percent at the end of the "baby boom" (1964).
• Children are projected to compose 24 percent of the population in 2020.
• In 2006, 58 percent of U.S. children were White, non-Hispanic; 20 percent were Hispanic; 15 percent were Black; 4 percent were Asian; and 4 percent were all other races.
  • The percentage of children who are Hispanic has increased faster than that of any other racial or ethnic group, growing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 20 percent in 2006.
• In 2006, 67 percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents, down from 77 percent in 1980.
• The nonmarital birth rate in 2005 increased to 48 per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44 years, up from 46 in 2004.
  • Births to unmarried women constituted 37 percent of all U.S. births, the highest level ever reported. 
• In 2005, 20 percent of school-age children spoke a language other than English at home and 5 percent of school-age children had difficulty speaking English.
• The adolescent birth rate for females ages 15–17 continued to decline in 2005. The rate fell by more than two-fifths since 1991, reaching 21 births per 1,000 females ages 15–17 in 2005.
  • The 2004–2005 decline was particularly steep among Black, non-Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander adolescents.
    • The birth rate for Black, non-Hispanic adolescents dropped three-fifths during 1991–2005.
• In 2005, 18 percent of all children ages 0–17 lived in poverty.
  • The percentage of children in families living below the federal poverty threshold reached a high of 22 percent in 1993 and decreased to a low of 16 percent in 2000. 
• In 2005, 48 percent of children ages 2–4 had a dental visit in the past year, compared with 84 percent of children ages 5–11 and 82 percent of children ages 12–17.
  • In 2003–2004, 23 percent of children ages 2–5 and 14 percent of children ages 6–17 had untreated dental caries (cavities) upon dental examination.

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