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 (table 2)

• 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 Islanders, non-Hispanic; 1 percent were American Indian, non-Hispanic; and 4 percent were multiracial, non-Hispanic (figure 1);
• 3 percent of babies born were twins, less than 1 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 mothers⁵ (i.e., 15 to 19 years of age) (figure 2).

When these children were about 9 months of age (table 3)

• 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 (figure 3);
• 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.