WASHINGTON (AP) - There's a close connection between family income and how often a parent or caregiver reads to a child and how involved a child gets in after-school activities, according to the Census Bureau.

The bureau arrived at those findings in its first-ever report, being released Friday, on the well-being of American children.

The report is based on a 1994 survey, but the study arrives at conclusions still likely to be true today, Census Bureau analyst Kristin Smith said.

"What is nice to learn is that kids, in general, are doing well," Smith said. "A lot of these indicators don't change over time."

Children who live with two parents, and children from families in higher income brackets, typically are read to more often and spend more time in extracurricular activities, the report said.

For instance, 55 percent of children ages 12 to 17 from a family with a monthly income of $4,500 or more participated in an after-school club, compared with 46 percent of those from a family with a monthly income between $3,000 and $4,499, 36 percent of those from a family that makes between $1,500 and $2,999 per month, and 28 percent of those from families with a monthly income below $1,500.

More well-to-do parents can pay a baby sitter to pick up the child, or those parents may encourage their children to participate in after-school activities since they do not have extra house chores or work in the afternoon, Smith said.

Most families, regardless of income level, had at least one rule controlling a child's television-viewing habits. However, children ages 12 to 17 with married parents were more likely to have TV guidelines than those with never-married parents - 81 percent compared with 70 percent.

Also, 47 percent of children ages 3 to 5 were read to seven or more times per week. About 9 percent of children in that age group were not read to at all in the week prior to the survey.

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