Neighborhood Safety, Parental Guidance, and Child Well-Being: Environment Matters

A substantial percentage of parents keep their children inside because they consider their neighborhoods dangerous.

Recent data released by the U.S. Census Bureau (A Child’s Day: 2004) provide an updated snapshot of the well-being of American children. Data from nearly 73,000 parents who participated in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) address living arrangements, family and neighborhood characteristics, daily interaction with parents, early child care, extracurricular activities, and academic experiences and expectations. The SIPP sample represents the noninstitutional civilian population of the U.S.

Remarkably, a substantial percentage of parents reported that they kept their children inside because they considered their neighborhoods dangerous (37% of Hispanic parents, 35% of black parents, 25% of Asian parents, and 18% of white pa…

Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics