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KIDS COUNT Indicator Briefs

The series summarizes research related to each of the 10 indicators used in the KIDS COUNT annual data book. See all KIDS COUNT resources.

KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Increasing the Percentage of Children Living in Two-Parent Families

This indicator brief outlines six strategies for increasing the percentage of children living in two-parent families. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Increasing the Percentage of Children Whose Parents Have Stable Employment

This Indicator Brief outlines eight broad strategies for workforce development that are rooted in lessons learned from recent practice and research. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Preventing Low Birth Weight

This brief describes five strategies for reducing the rate of low birth weight births: promote and support research on its causes, expand access to health care, focus intensively on smoking prevention and cessation, ensure that pregnant women get adequate nutrition, and address social and demographic risk factors. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Preventing Teen Births

This brief describes strategies for preventing teen pregnancy. When teens have children, their health may be jeopardized and their chances for productive lives are often diminished. Babies born to teen mothers are more likely than other children to be born at a low birth weight, experience health problems or developmental delays, experience abuse or neglect, and, as they grow, perform poorly in school. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Child Death Rate

This brief offers strategies to address both the larger socioeconomic forces and some of the specific hazards that threaten the well-being, even the lives, of children ages one to 14. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Child Poverty Rate

This brief describes strategies to help lift families and children out of poverty and move toward greater economic security.  These include building political will to reduce child poverty; strengthening the safety net; making wages work; helping low-income families keep more of what they earn; helping low-income families amass savings and assets. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the High School Dropout Rate

This brief outlines strategies for reducing the dropout rate, including: make it harder for students to drop out of school; address underlying causes of dropping out and needs of the groups at highest risk of dropping out; strengthen school readiness and skills, and understanding of the adults who affect teens’ motivation and ability to stay in school. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Infant Mortality Rate

This brief describes strategies for reducing the infant mortality rate, including addressing disparities in infant mortality; providing pre-pregnancy education and counseling to all women and men; ensuring timely prenatal care for all women; and expanding access to medical care for infants in the first month of life. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Number of Disconnected Youth

This brief outlines strategies to reduce the number of disconnected youth such as: aiming for comprehensive system reform, not just the provision or expansion of direct services; starting with schools; creating well-structured school-to-career programs; addressing impediments to employment; and meeting adolescents’ needs for nurturance, guidance, and protection. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Teen Birth Rate

This KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief describes six strategies that can contribute to preventing teen pregnancy. more >>

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KIDS COUNT Indicator Brief: Reducing the Teen Death Rate

This brief offers broad strategies that address the underlying causes of the nation’s high teen mortality rates and the three leading causes of teen death—motor vehicle accidents, homicide, and suicide. more >>

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