The New York Times News Service

By many social, financial, educational and health measures, the well-being of America's children has been improving, according to a new report from the federal government.

The child poverty rate has been dropping steadily, although children are still more likely to be living in poverty than adults. In 1999, 16 percent of the nation's children lived in families below the poverty line - the lowest rate in two decades, and 2 percentage points less than in 1998.

The decline was especially sharp in households headed by women and in black families, according to the report, the fifth annual compilation of data on children from a dozen federal departments and agencies.

"These findings represent important victories for children and adolescents," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "Children are less likely to live in poverty, more likely to have a parent working full-time and more likely to have health insurance."

In one measure of the strong economy of the '90s, the percentage of children living in households with at least one employed parent rose to 79 percent in 1999, from 77 percent in 1998 and 72 percent in 1994.

On this measure, too, children living with single mothers showed the most improvement. But children living below the poverty line are increasingly likely to have at least one parent working full-time, year round. In 1999, 31 percent of children in poverty had an employed parent, compared with 21 percent in 1980.

The proportion of children covered by health insurance rose to 86 percent in 1999, the highest since 1995.

There were 70.4 million children under 18 in the United States in 2000, or 26 percent of the population, down from a peak of 36 percent at the end of the baby boom. That percentage is expected to remain relatively stable, with children making up 24 percent of the population in 2020.

The diversity of American children is growing, with the Hispanic population increasing fastest. In 2000, 16 percent of the nation's children were Hispanic, up from 9 percent in 1980. Sixty-four percent were white, 14 percent black, 4 percent Asian/Pacific Islander and 1 percent American Indian.

Over the last two decades, the percentage of school-age children who speak a language other than English at home and have difficulty speaking English has nearly doubled, to 5 percent in 1999 from 2.8 percent in 1979.

The percentage of children living with one parent increased to 26 percent in 2000 from 20 percent in 1980, and the proportion of children living with single fathers doubled to 4 percent in 2000 from 2 percent in 1980.

According to the report, put out by the Federal Interagency Forum on Children and Family Statistics, adolescents' cigarette use is declining. Among 12th-graders, the proportion of daily smokers was 21 percent in 2000, down from a recent high of 25 percent in 1997; among 8th-graders, 7 percent reported smoking daily last year, compared with 10 percent.

Alcohol and illicit drug use did not change substantially, with about 30 percent of 12th-graders reporting that they had at least five drinks in a row in the previous two weeks, and about 25 percent of them reporting drug use in the previous month.

The percentage of young adults completing high school has increased. Although the proportion earning a regular diploma has been dropping, the increase in those obtaining an alternative high school credential has more than made up the difference.

Copyright 2001 The New York Times News Service. All rights reserved.