The State of Children of Color in the U.S.

Report joins chorus of calls for more analysis of opportunity by race and ethnicity

By Carla Murphy Apr 04, 2014

African-American children face "crisis-level" barriers to success. Asian and Pacific Islander children followed by whites are best positioned to meet most of the 12 indicators selected to communicate a child’s likelihood of becoming, "middle class by middle age." And similar to African-American children, Latino and Native American children also face greater hurdles beginning at birth. That’s according to a new, comprehensive report that, where data was available, went beyond the standard broad racial groupings to look at a child’s lifetime opportunity by region, tribe, or family’s country of descent.

For example, children of Southeast Asian descent (Hmong, Cambodian, Vietnamese) faced greater challenges than those of Indian, Chinese or Filipino descent. Among African-American children, those living in the southeastern U.S. were least likely overall to become middle class because the report says, of a legacy of "institutional discrimination that still plague[s] the region." Children in Choctaw households fare better economically than those in Apache households. And children of Mexican and Central American descent had to surmount bigger obstacles than those born into Cuban and South American households.

The report, Race for Results, is a first for the Annie Casey Foundation, long recognized for producing the massive state-by-state Kids Count data trove. Race for Results recommends race- and ethnicity-targeted investments (especially for boys and men of color) and greater data collection.