DEFINITION
Child population is the percentage of the total population that is under the age of 18.
SIGNIFICANCE
In 1994, there were 219,242 Rhode Island children under age 18.1 Rhode Island's children are diverse in race, ethnic background, language, and country of origin. Children under age 18 are significantly more diverse in racial and ethnic backgrounds than the adult population.
The percentage of the Rhode Island population that is under age 18 has declined from 26 percent in 1980 to 22 percent in 1990. Only one household in four has a school-aged child.2 This reflects a major shift toward the aging of America. Many families are responsible for the care of children as well as elderly family members. At the turn of the century there were about nine dependent children for each older adult. Today this ratio is close to two to one, and early in the next century there will be one dependent child for every dependent elderly person.3
Immigration
According to the 1990 Census, 13,500 Rhode Island children were
born outside the U.S., including 5,400 Hispanic children and 3,300 Asian children.4
Many immigrant children and children of recent immigrants face
language barriers. In 1990, more than 25,000 Rhode Island children age 5 to 17 spoke a
language other than English at home.5
| By Age | By Family Structure | |||||
6.5% |
. | Less than age 1 | 70.8 |
. | Two Parent | |
30.1% |
. | Age 1 to 5 | 24.4 |
. | Mother Only | |
29.9% |
. | Age 6 to 11 | 3.1 |
. | Father Only | |
33.5% |
. | Age 12 to 17 | 2.1 |
. | Other | |
 |
||||||
DEFINITION
Child in single parent families is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in families headed by a person - male or female - without a spouse present in the home. These number include "own children" defined as never-married children under 18 who are related to the family head by birth, marriage, or adoption.
SIGNIFICANCE
According to the Center for Demographic Policy in Washington D.C., sixty percent of all children in the United States will spend some time in a single parent family before reaching age 18.1
Children in single parent families are at increased risk of living in poverty when compared to children in two-parent families.2 When the single parent is a woman, the risk of falling into poverty is greater, due to factors such as the wage gap between men and women, limited education and training for higher-wage jobs, and inadequate child support.3 In 1994, just over half of Rhode Island's female-headed families with children were living below the poverty line.4
Although most Rhode Island children live with two parents, more than one in four lived in a single parent family in 1994.5 In 195, 34 percent of all births in Rhode Island were to unmarried women.6 With the increasing number of non-marital births and a continuing high divorce rate, the proportion of children living with one parent has almost doubled since 1970. The increase in single parent families over the past three decades has occurred across all races and income levels.7
In 194, the average household income in Rhode
Island for two-parent families with children was $52,292 compared to $20,456 for single
parent families headed by a woman.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, 1992 to 1996 average.
Nearly 75% of American children growing up in single parent
families experience poverty for some period in their first ten years - compared to 20% of
children in two-parent families.8
1n 1994, just over half of Rhode Island's female headed families
with children were living below the poverty level.9