Reports & Research
Understanding Childhood Issues & Highlighting Them
California Report Card, 2008
Jan 03, 2008
Download file: reportcard_2008.pdf
The 2008 California Report Card: The State of the State’s Children highlights the generally poor health and education status of the state’s children by assigning letter grades to key individual determinants, such as a C in health insurance, a C- in K-12 education and a D+ in obesity. According to the report and its supporting documentation, these issues are undermining children’s optimal development and putting the state’s future at undue risk by dramatically increasing the financial costs and societal problems faced by future generations. The report also shows, however, that real progress on these issues can and should be made in 2008.
The most current and comprehensive set of indicators of California children’s health and education status are presented in the report, including:
- Only 47% of 3- and 4-year-olds attend preschool;
- One in three children is overweight or obese;
- Just 65% graduate from high school on time;
- 37% of children, ages 2-5, did not visit a dentist within the last year;
- Fewer than half of families can afford the basics of housing, child care, food, health insurance and transportation.