America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007

Indicators Needed

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007 identifies critical gaps in the data available on children and youth. It challenges the Nation as a whole—and the Federal statistical agencies in particular—to improve the monitoring of important areas of children's lives. It also challenges Federal agencies to improve the timeliness with which information on children is made available to policymakers and the public.

At the end of each section is a list describing child well-being data in need of development. The lists include many important aspects of children's lives for which regular indicators are lacking or are in development, such as children's homelessness, long-term poverty, disability, and early development. In some areas, the Forum is exploring ways to collect new measures and improve existing ones. In others, Forum agencies have successfully fielded surveys incorporating some new measures, but they are not yet available on a regular basis for monitoring purposes.