Children under the age of 15 comprise 1 out of every 3 people in the world.  The region with the highest percent of children (under 15) relative to the total population is Sub-Saharan Africa (44%).  Over one-third of the world’s children reside in India and China.  Roughly 1 out of 6 children (5-14) are involved in child labor throughout the world.  This number increases to 1 in 3 children in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Twelve percent of the world’s young women (20-24) were first married before the age of 15.  Rates of child marriage are greatest in undeveloped countries (17%).  Twenty-five to 50% of all children report being physically abused.  Twenty-percent of women and 5-10% of men report being sexually abused as children.

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There are currently 74 million children below the age of 18 in the US (24% of the total population, or about 1 in 4).  Almost 2% of children are born to adolescent (15-17) mothers and 1% are victims of substantiated reports of maltreatment.  Approximately 6 million children were investigated for allegations of maltreatment in the US in 2010.  One out of 48 infants were victims of abuse--the highest rate of victimization for any age group.  The vast majority (78%) of maltreatment imposed on children is neglect.  About 1 out of every 50,000 children in the US dies as a result of abuse or neglect.

 

UNICEF – The State of the World’s Children (2012)

World Health Organization – Child Maltreatment Fact Sheet

US Census Bureau – The United States in International Context (2000)

ChildStats – America’s Children at a Glance

US Department of Health & Human Services – Child Maltreatment (2010)