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November 2001
 THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON'S CHILDREN: Fall
2001
Summary
This is our ninth annual
report on The State of Washington's Children. As in the past, we
have used a variety of information sources to compile a
comprehensive and up- to- date picture of the health and well-
being of children in our state. Here are some of the
highlights:
- Teen pregnancy and
birth rates continue to decline. Still, births to unmarried women
approximate 30 percent of the births in our state.
- Almost forty percent
of births in Washington are mistimed or unwanted.
- Economic inequalities
continue to grow, while our state
faces
slowing economic growth. Care will be needed to create social
service and economic strategies that protect our most vulnerable
children.
- Economic inequalities
do not occur randomly. Education, family structure, access to
capital, and area of residence all play key roles in income
distribution and can be addressed through public policies.
- Child care costs
continue to rise, averaging one- fifth of a working parents
income.
- Binge drinking and
marijuana used by high school students has declined.
Mental health, oral
health, and prevention will be the new challenges in the decade to
come.
- -Mental health is now
the single most common reason for hospitalization among teens.
Hospitalizations and mortality from suicide continue at alarmingly
high levels.
- Dental decay is
widespread and dental care is difficult to find for almost one-
third of children.
- Immunization levels
are declining and obesity is increasing markedly in our state.
- Less than half of
4th, 7th, and 10th graders met basic math standards on the
Washington Assessment of Student Learning in 2000.
- Children of color lag
behind white students in both reading and math, with the gap in
math performance continuing to widen.
- How much money a
school district spends and how it spends that money impacts
average test scores.
- Injuries continue to
be the major cause of death among children, accounting for
approximately half of all deaths in adolescents.
- Motor vehicles and
firearms are the leading causes of deaths among adolescents, far
outweighing infections, cancers, and other medical causes.
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