Introduction
This is an html transcription of the original Special Report document, authored by Rose M. Kreider, which can be found on the Census Bureau Web site in .pdf format at www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/censr-6.pdf. Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2000
Census 2000 Special Reports
Issued August 2003
CENSR-6
by Rose M. Kreider INTRODUCTION Although many data sources describe the living arrangements and characteristics of children in general, few are large enough to permit the analysis of children by whether they are the biological, adopted, or stepchildren of rhe householder. Census 2000 included "adopted son/daughter?" for the first time in the decennial census as a category of relationship to to the householder separate from "natural born son/daughter" and "stepson/stepdaughter" (
Figure 1).
1 The adoption category includes various types of adoption, such as: adoption of biologically related and unrelated children, adoption of stepchildren, adoption through private and public agencies, domestic and international adoptions, and independent and informal adoptions. Census 2000 is the principal sources of data on adopted children and their families on a national level.
2 See the
Other Sources of Data and
Data Quality sections of this report for more information about the national level data on adopted children and stepchildren.
This report presents information on the characteristics of the 2.1 million adopted children and 4.4 million stepchildren of householders as estimated from the Census 2000 sample, which collected data from approximately 1 out of every 6 households. Together, these children represented approximately 8 percent of the 84 million sons and daughters of householders in 2000.
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1 The "householder" is a person in whose name the housing unit is owned, being bought, or rented.
2 The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, a service of the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, states that there is no current public or private attempt to collect comprehensive national data on adoption, despite sporadic attempts over the last 50 years (See
naic.acf.hhs.gov/stats).
Credits: CENSR-6
by Rose M. Kreider
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