KIDS COUNT Data Center

2007 KIDS COUNT Data Book Online >
Summary and Findings

The KIDS COUNT Data Book Variations in Child Well-Being by Race and Ethnicity KIDS COUNT State Indicators National Trends in Child Well-Being Child Well-Being in Puerto Rico Ranking States on Composite Index Percent Low-Birthweight Babies Infant Mortality Rate Child Death Rate

Teen Death Rate Teen Birth Rate Percent of Teens Who Are High School Dropouts Percent of Teens Not Attending School and Not Working Percent of Children Living in Families Where No Parent Has Full-Time, Year-Round Employment Percent of Children in Poverty Percent of Children in Single-Parent Families

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Child Death Rate
The Child Death Rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1–14) has fallen steadily for the past several years, in large part because of advances in medical care. The general decrease in deaths from motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for one-fifth of all child deaths in 2004, also has contributed to a declining Child Death Rate.

The leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14 is unintentional injury. However, far more children are injured and survive. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control reports that for each injury-related death in 2004, there were 22 hospital admissions resulting from children’s injuries and more than 1,400 injury-related emergency room visits.

Too many young children die in automobile accidents because they are not wearing a seat belt. Nearly half of the children ages 1 to 4 who died in traffic crashes were not wearing a seat belt or other restraint.

• During 2004, 11,619 children between the ages of 1 and 14 died in the United States, an average of 32 deaths per day.
  
  
• The Child Death Rate inched downward from 22 out of every 100,000 children in this age range in 2000, to 20 deaths per 100,000 in 2004.
  
  
• Between 2000 and 2004, the Child Death Rate decreased in 30 states, while increasing in 17 states and the District of Columbia. In 3 states, the rate was unchanged.
  
  
• The Child Death Rate in 2004 ranged from a low of 11 in Rhode Island to a high of 39 in South Dakota.
  
  
• The Child Death Rate for American Indians and Alaskan Natives (30 deaths per 100,000) is higher than any other group examined here.

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