Children, Youth, and Families

Children, Youth, and Families

Understanding the conditions and needs of children and youth in the United Stats and across the world is critical to ensuring healthy and productive futures for them and society. PRB provides evidence and analysis to foster that understanding and influence change.

Across the United States, we track social, economic, and health indicators for children. Internationally, we measure health risk factors among youth and support youth leadership and advocacy of their reproductive health priorities.

In the United States, we analyze and assess data on children’s well-being.

The KIDS COUNT project is a national and state-by-state effort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States. It includes the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book and a KIDS COUNT Data Center. PRB has played an instrumental role in the KIDS COUNT Data Book since 1990, providing feedback on the design and measurement of the KIDS COUNT index of child well-being and compiling the data presented in the Data Book. We have also produced more than 150 national- and state-level tables on the well-being of children and families for the KIDS COUNT Data Center.

Internationally, we measure youth’s health risk factors and promote young people’s reproductive health.

Our research and analysis cover such topics as noncommunicable diseases, the effect of unhealthy life habits such as use of opioids and tobacco, trends in HIV/AIDS, Zika, and more.

We look beyond the numbers to understand youth’s reproductive health and development status and assess and compare the political environments and social dynamics that impact their lives. Using narratives that link hard statistics with young people’s lived realities increases policymakers’ appreciation of the diverse challenges this generation faces and improves the program responses required to meet their contraceptive and reproductive health needs. In these ways, PRB helps build the evidence base to inform effective policies and programs.

Learn more about our work with youth and their reproductive health.