• Introduction
• Selected Findings
• Reference

This E.D. TAB provides descriptive information about children born in the United States in 2001. It presents information on certain child and family characteristics, on children's mental and physical skills, on children's first experiences in child care, and on the fathers of these children. The report profiles data from a nationally representative sample of children at about 9 months of age, both overall and for various subgroups (i.e., male and female, children from different racial/ethnic groups, and children living in different types of families).

Data source

The ECLS-B is a nationally representative sample of the nearly 4 million children born in the United States in the year 2001.¹ During the first wave of the study, 10,688 parents provided information and 10,221 children were directly assessed.

The ECLS-B was designed to collect information from children and their families for the first time when the children were about 9 months of age (i.e., 8 to 10 months). However, information was collected from a few children as young as 6 months and as old as 22 months. The term "9 months" is used throughout this document to refer to the data collection that took place between fall 2001 and fall 2002, at which time most of the sampled children were about 9 months of age (72 percent of the population was 8 to 10 months of age). For ease of reporting, this E.D. TAB uses the term "about 9 months of age" to refer to the entire population of children in the study. Four additional waves of data collection are planned for when the children are 2-year-olds, preschool-aged (e.g., age 4), and then when they are in kindergarten.

Organization of this report

The information in this report is presented in four sections: (1) characteristics of the children and their families; (2) children's early mental and physical skills; (3) children's first experiences in child care; and (4) the fathers of these children. The topics selected for this initial release of baseline information are only a small sampling of the types of questions that can be addressed.

Demographic characteristics of children and their families

Information on the demographic characteristics of the children and their families was largely provided by the parents as part of the parent interview and also drawn from information presented on the child's birth certificate.

In 2001, of babies born in the United States

• 51 percent were boys and 49 percent were girls;
• 54 percent were White, non-Hispanic; 14 percent were Black, non-Hispanic; 26 percent were Hispanic; 3 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; 1 percent were American Indian, non-Hispanic; and 4 percent were multiracial, non-Hispanic;
• 3 percent of babies born were twins, less than 0.5 percent were part of other multiple births (e.g., triplets, quadruplets), and 97 percent were single births;
• 12 percent of babies were born premature, 6 percent were low birth weight (i.e., more than 3.3 pounds to 5.5 pounds), and 1 percent were very low birth weight (i.e., 3.3 pounds or less); and
• 11 percent of babies were born to teenage mothers² (i.e., 15 to 19 years of age).

• 23 percent were living in families whose household income was below the poverty threshold;
• 64 percent were living with both of their married biological parents, 14 percent were living with unmarried biological parents, and 20 percent were living with one parent;
• 27 percent were living with mothers who had less than a high school education, and 17 percent were living with fathers who had less than a high school education; and
• 24 percent were living with mothers who had a bachelor's degree or higher, and 24 percent were living with fathers who had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Children's early mental and physical skills

The ECLS-B assessment of young children's mental and physical development relies on a direct measure of children-the Bayley Short Form-Research Edition (BSF-R), which was developed for use in the ECLS-B. The BSF-R is a shortened version of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Second Edition (BSID-II) (Bayley 1993), a standardized assessment of mental and motor developmental status for children from birth to 42 months of age.

This E.D. TAB presents information on young children's specific mental and physical skills (i.e., proficiencies). Proficiency scores provide a means of distinguishing status in specific skills within a content area. Clusters of two to five test questions having similar content and difficulty were included at several points along the score scale of the BSF-R mental and physical assessments. Clusters of items provide a more reliable test of proficiency than do single items.³

Below are the five proficiencies for early mental skills.

• Exploring objects. The child is reaching for and holding objects. He/she may have no specific purpose or goal except to play or discover.
• Exploring objects with a purpose. The child is manipulating objects with a purpose (e.g., to see what makes the ringing sound in a bell).
• Babbling. The child is making simple sounds and gestures (e.g., babbling or jabbering).
• Early problem solving. The child is using reasoning to interact with objects (e.g., if a toy is out of reach, using another object, like another toy, to bring the desired toy within reach).
• Communicating with words. The child understands and uses words, both receptively (pointing to named objects) and expressively (saying words).

• Eye-hand coordination. The child demonstrates eye-hand coordination as he/she reaches for objects.
• Sitting. The child can sit alone, without leaning against something or other assistance.
• Prewalking. The child is taking steps and supporting his/her weight while standing, with assistance (moving along furniture or holding onto someone's hand).
• Independent walking. The child is walking alone, without assistance (without holding onto something or someone).
• Balance. The child can balance in various positions (e.g., squatting, standing on one foot).

When children were 8 to 10 months old, in terms of their mental skills (figure A)

• 99 percent were exploring objects in play;
• 88 percent were exploring objects with a purpose;
• 47 percent were babbling;
• 3 percent were demonstrating early problem solving; and
• less than 0.5 percent were using words.

• 91 percent demonstrated eye-hand coordination;
• 93 percent were sitting;
• 73 percent were showing prewalking skills;
• 19 percent were walking; and
• 1 percent could balance.

• 100 percent were exploring objects in play;
• 97 percent were exploring objects with a purpose;
• 72 percent were babbling;
• 17 percent were demonstrating early problem solving; and
• 5 percent were using words.

• 96 percent demonstrated good eye-hand coordination;
• 98 percent were sitting;
• 91 percent were showing prewalking skills;
• 55 percent were walking; and
• 10 percent could balance.

Figure A. Percentage of children demonstrating certain mental skills at 8 to 10 months of age and at 11 to 13 months of age: 2001

# Less than .5 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, Restricted-Use File (NCES 2004-093). (Originally published as figure 4 on p. 12 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Figure B. Percentage of children demonstrating certain physical skills at 8 to 10 months of age and at 11 to 13 months of age: 2001

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, Restricted-Use File (NCES 2004-093). (Originally published as figure 5 on p. 12 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Children's first experiences in child care

As part of the parent interview, information was collected on children's first experiences in child care. Parents provided information on whether their child was in care, the type of care, the number of hours in care, and the age at which the child first entered care. The ECLS-B seeks to provide information on the care that young children receive on a regular basis from persons other than their parents.⁵

• When children were about 9 months of age, approximately one-half (50 percent) were in some kind of regular child care arrangement, such as a center-based care arrangement or care provided by a nonrelative or relative in a private home (table A).
• Black children (63 percent) were more likely to be in some kind of child care arrangement, compared to White (49 percent), Hispanic (46 percent), and Asian children (47 percent). Children whose mothers work (full time or part time) are more likely to be in child care than children whose mothers do not work or who are looking for work. Children in families who were not poor (at or above the poverty threshold) (52 percent) were more likely to be in child care than children from poor families (43 percent) (table A).
• Among children about 9 months of age (table A)
  • 26 percent were in relative care as their primary arrangement,⁶ where they received care from someone related to them other than the parent, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or some other relative. Relative care could be in the child's home or in the home of the caregiver.
  • 15 percent were in nonrelative care as their pri- mary arrangement, where they received care from someone who is not related to them, such as a nanny, home-based care provider, regular sitter, or neighbor. This does not include day care centers or preschools. The care could be in the child's home or in the home of the caregiver.
  • 9 percent were in center-based care as their pri- mary arrangement, such as early learning cen- ters, nursery schools, and preschools (including Early Head Start).
  • 1 percent had a primary arrangement that was actually multiple arrangements, where they spent equal numbers of hours across different care ar- rangement types (such as 20 hours a week with a relative and 20 hours a week in a center-based program).
• The type of child care children received varied by their race/ethnicity. Black children were more likely than White, Hispanic, or Asian children to be in center-based care. White children were less likely than Black, Hispanic, or Asian children to be cared for by a relative (table A).
• Of children in child care, 39 percent began when they were younger than 3 months, 47 percent were 3 to 6 months old, and 14 percent started care when they were older than 6 months. In terms of hours per week in child care, 19 percent of children about 9 months of age were in an arrangement 10 hours or fewer, 27 percent were in an arrangement 11 to 30 hours, 31 percent were in an arrangement 31 to 40 hours, and 24 percent were in an arrangement more than 40 hours.
• The age at which children entered child care and the number of hours they spent in the arrangement varied by their race/ethnicity. Asian children were more likely than White, Black, or Hispanic children to enter a child care arrangement when they were younger than 3 months of age. Asian children were more likely than White, Black, or Hispanic children to spend more than 40 hours a week in care, and Black children were more likely than White or Hispanic children to spend more than 40 hours a week in care.
• Children in relative care were more likely to be in care for 10 hours or fewer a week than children in nonrelative care or a center-based program. Children in multiple care arrangements were more likely to be in care more than 40 hours a week than children in a single care arrangement.