Girls in the United States come from different backgrounds and are growing up in different circumstances, but share a common goal
like children everywhere
to become healthy and productive adults. A new
State of Girls
report by the Girl Scout Research Institute highlights some of the challenges that school-age girls (ages 5 to 17) face. The report is based on PRB
s analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau
s American Community Survey and other sources.

Girls are growing up during a period of rapid demographic, social, economic, and technological change. The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Family dynamics are becoming more complex, and more children are growing up in single-parent families. Gender roles continue to shift as more women enter college and the workforce. And millions of families with children still feel the effects of the 2007
2009 recession and its aftermath. These trends are important not only because they may affect how girls are faring today, but also because in a generation, these girls will enter the workforce and start families of their own.

The report highlights recent trends
from 2007 to the present
in girls
health, safety, economic well-being, and educational achievement, as well as changing demographics. While some measures show that conditions for girls are improving, others are moving in the wrong direction, which may prevent girls from reaching their full potential. The report shows that:

  • The percentage of non-Hispanic white girls ages 5 to 17 decreased from 57 percent in 2007 to 51 percent in 2016, while the share of girls who were Latina increased from 20 percent to 24 percent.
  • The percent of girls living in immigrant families
    girls residing with one or more foreign-born parents
    increased from 23 percent to 26 percent between 2007 and 2015.
  • About 34 percent of girls lived in single-parent families in 2015, compared with 32 percent before the recession.
  • Poverty rates for girls have fallen slightly during the past few years but remain higher than they were before the Great Recession. In 2015, 19 percent of girls ages 5 to 17 lived in poverty, compared to 17 percent in 2007.
  • In 2013-14, 17 percent of girls ages 2 to 19 were obese
    defined as having a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile
    up from 16 percent in 2007-08.
  • The percent of high school girls who have ever smoked cigarettes dropped sharply from 49 percent in 2007 to 31 percent in 2015.
  • In 2015, just 5 percent of girls ages 5 to 17 lacked health insurance coverage, down from 11 percent in 2008.
  • In 2007, 8 percent of female youth ages 16 to 24 were high school dropouts, but by 2014, that figure had decreased to 6 percent.
  • In 2015, about 39 percent of fourth-grade girls were proficient in reading, up from 36 percent in 2007. During the same period, the share of eighth-grade girls who were proficient in math also increased, from 30 percent to 33 percent.

A series of state fact sheets show wide gaps in girls
well-being in different parts of the country. School-age girls are faring the best in several Northern states
New Hampshire,
Minnesota,
South Dakota, and
Vermont
and in
Utah
in the West. Girls are faring worse in states in the South and Southwest, including
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Nevada,
New Mexico, and
Tennessee. States were ranked using a composite measure of 13 indicators of girl
s social, economic, physical, and emotional well-being.

For more information, including state-by-state results and gaps in girls
well-being across different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, visit the
State of Girls
website.