Are Today's Teens Better Off Than Their Parents?

On Tuesday, July 22, 2008, the Workforce and Family Program hosted the release of the 2008 Foundation for Child Development (FCD) Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI). The event featured highlights from the 2008 CWI, including a special focus comparing the well-being of “echo boomer” teens in this decade with the well-being of their “later boomer” parents when they were teenagers. The event also featured presentations by:

• Dr. Larke Huang, Senior Advisor on Children, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Dr. Anisha Abraham, Chief of Adolescent Medicine, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Hospital.
• Ms. Anita Berger, Principal, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
• Ms. Kelleen Kaye, Director of Research, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

Dr. Land outlined the results of the 2008 CWI. His findings show that the progress of children’s quality of life has remained in a stall for the last five years. So far this decade there has generally been very little progress in the overall status of children after years of strong growth in the late 1990’s. Dr. Land noted that while current CWI levels are fairly high from a historical perspective, there remains substantial room for improvement, and that parents and policymakers should not accept our the current status of our children as “good enough.” In addition, Dr. Land sounded a caveat about the well-being of American children. In the past, macroeconomic downturns have had a negative impact on the status of children in the United States. As macroeconomic issues (instability in housing prices, the credit market, inflationary pressures) assert themselves in this period, it is likely that we will see a negative impact on the well-being of children when the data for the 2007-2009 period is available. Dr. Land also showcased three potential “trouble spots” arising from areas where data has shown good news in the past decade. Recent upturns in poverty levels among the children of single parents, teenage birth rates, and several behavioral indicators (violent crime victimization and offending, illicit drug use) could be leading indicators of a coming downturn in overall well-being.

To see Dr. Land’s presentation in PowerPoint format, please click here.

Dr. Larke Huang focused on the increasingly large and diverse nature of America’s children in her remarks, noting also that children of color are much more likely to be poor than white children, especially if those children live in rural America. Dr. Huang drilled down into the statistics of various negative social behaviors (underage binge drinking, illicit drug use and suicide) showed the impacts of those behaviors on children of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Dr. Huang also explained that children who are exposed to a variety of adverse behaviors in the household are more likely to suffer from mental health and substance abuse issues as adults. Dr. Huang urged a holistic focus on children, noting that economic, social, health, and educational policies all affect children. She also interpreted the stall in the CWI as possibly suggesting that we have reached a plateau of well-being with current practices that could demand new strategies in order to improve child well-being in the future.

To view Dr. Huang’s presentation in PowerPoint format, please click here.

Two of the panelists, Dr. Anisha Abraham and Ms. Anita Berger, offered a more personal look at the numbers shown by the CWI. Dr. Abraham talked about the struggles of several of her young patients; primarily young women struggling with the combined effects of obesity and depression, as well as a host of attending maladies. Dr. Abraham’s patients face their struggles as the result of a complex network of factors, but Dr. Abraham focused on the impact of her patients’ urban environment and the difficulty in making healthy choices when high prices and a lack of availability act in concert.

Ms. Berger discussed at length the success of Banneker High School in challenging their students with an ambitious curriculum and assisting those students on to college acceptance. Banneker High has an impressive record of sending students on to college, and Ms. Berger shared the stories of some of her former students.

Ms. Kaye discussed historical trends of teen births in the United States. There has been a period of significant decline in the teen birth rate since it reached an all-time high in 1991. Ms. Kaye explained that this drop in the birth rate is likely caused by a combination of several factors, including increased use of contraception by teens. While the rate of teen births is down significantly from its 1991 high, the United States has an extremely high birth rate for teenagers as compared with other highly developed countries and Ms. Kaye noted continued room for improvement. In keeping with Dr. Land’s notes of concern about the immediate future, Ms. Kaye showed an upturn in recent data about teen birth rates and suggested caution moving forward. She suggested that the gains of recent years might be showing some fragility.

To read Ms. Kaye’s presentation in PowerPoint format, please click here. 

 For the full text of the 2008 CWI, please click here.

This event is funded by the Foundation for Child Development.

Participants
Featured Speakers

• Kenneth Land
  Coordinator, Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project
  John Franklin Crowell Professor of Sociology, Duke University

• Ruby Takanishi
  President
  Foundation for Child Development

• Kelleen Kaye
  Research Director, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
  Fellow, Workforce and Family Program, New America Foundation

• Anisha Abraham
  Chief, Section of Adolescent Medicine
  Assistant Professor, Georgetown University Hospital

• Anita Berger
  Principal, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
  Washington D.C. Public Schools

• Larke Huang
  Senior Advisor on Children
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• David Gray
  Director, Workforce and Family Program
  New America Foundation