NaBloPoMo Post #10: Statistics on Orphans
It’s late. I’ve been home for about 45 minutes since I woke up this morning. I lifted this from this blog instead of searching for all the statistics myself. But they are still important numbers that we should all be aware of.
These are the most recent and reliable statistics on the global orphan situation.
* The most recent estimate is that there are approximately 145 million orphans in the world (UNICEF 2008). For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents.
* More than 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, over 11.6 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
* In 2007 67.5 million Children in South Asia and East Asia had lost one or both parents due to all causes.
* Included in the 2008 estimate of 145 million orphans are more than 92 million that have a surviving mother—-with whom they most likely live.
* Another 38 million have a surviving father.
* Approximately 15 million children are “double” orphans—growing up without either mother or father. That’s about ten percent of the whole 145 million.
* The UNICEF orphan numbers (145 million) are only for deceased parents. If you were to factor in single parents in general, we’d be talking a number many times higher.
* The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children. Are the millions of kids abandoned in China not orphans?
* The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include many non-reporting nations (namely, Middle Eastern Islamic nations) where shame and divorce abandonment are rampant. 200,000 + orphans in Iraq, for instance, are not part of the count.
* I think we’re looking at a number quite higher than 15 million “double orphans.” We often communicate that the real number of kids that fall into our care categories is somewhere around 40 or 50 million.
* According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based care.
* As of 2002 in Europe and Central Asia, over one million children lived in residential institutions.
* Worldwide an estimated 300 million children are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse, including the worst forms of child labour in communities, schools and institutions, during armed conflict, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.
* In the US there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care (Based on data submitted by states as of January 16, 2008)
* 130,000 of those children in foster care are waiting and available for adoption. Children waiting to be adopted include children with a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children whose parental rights have been terminated, who are 16 years old and older, and who have a goal of emancipation are excluded from the “waiting” population. An individual child is included in the count for each year that he or she has these characteristics on the last day of the year.
* Approximately 51,000 children are adopted from the foster system each year.
* That leaves 79,000 children annually in the US needing an adoptive family.
* Each year, an estimated 20,000 young people “age out” of the U.S. foster care system. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services. Several foster care alumni studies show that without a lifelong connection to a caring adult, these older youth are often left vulnerable to a host of adverse situations:
Outcomes
Earned a high school diploma 54%
Obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher 2%
Became a parent 84%
Were unemployed 51%
Had no health insurance 30%
Had been homeless 25%
Were receiving public assistance 30%
One Response to “NaBloPoMo Post #10: Statistics on Orphans”
Leave a Reply
I’m going to do some thinking out loud.
Why do we could children as orphans if only one parent has died? That seems contrary to the traditional understanding of an orphan–a child with no one to look after them. And is that count only from developing countries where losing one parent is extremely detrimental to the family’s future prospects (especially if it’s the father who dies)? Do we count orphans like this in the U.S.?
It just seems peculiar to lump these 120 million children who still have a surviving parent as orphans. Is there some special circumstance they’re not reporting that these 120 million all fit an additional criteria, like the surviving parent is unable to care for them or something? Because the implication of these numbers–145 million orphans–is that many children need to be adopted or cared for in some way. But if 120 million still live with a parent do they really need that kind of care? Or do they need more family oriented-care to keep their fragile family together?
It also seems bizarre that abandonment cases aren’t included. If a child is abandoned and you literally do not know who the parents are, how is that kid not an orphan?
Sometimes I wonder if these kinds of statistics are more a distraction than a help.
Finally, the 20,000 teenagers who age out of the U.S. foster care system is heart-breaking. I can’t imagine taking those first steps toward adulthood and being on your own without a family to fall back on. Does anyone know what the foster care system does to help these kids? Are their mentor programs or anything to give these kids some sort of guidance and connection–at least to give them something if not a family.