Chapter 7 - Monitoring the Well-Being of Canada's Young Children

The information presented in the following table includes an overview of all the indicators of well-being for young children from birth to 5 years of age, as well as family- and community-related measures, for 1998/99, 2000/01 and 2002/03. It also includes a discussion of the immunization indicators, which were not presented earlier in the report given that they are only placeholders until more meaningful indicators can be developed. Those indicators denoted with an asterisk (*) are part of the common set of indicators of young children's well-being that all governments participating in the Early Childhood Development Agreement have agreed to report on.

While a number of trends can be observed, it is important to note that, for the majority of indicators and determinants presented in the following table, change over time will occur gradually. Significant improvements can be measured only when a large number of children are developing better than earlier cohorts. The four-year period between 1998 and 2002 may not allow sufficient time for changes in the lives and well-being of families and children to become apparent. Furthermore, small changes in either direction should be interpreted with caution as they may reflect variability in the sampling and/or data collection methods rather than true changes. As the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), the primary source of data for the majority of indicators, is based on a parent's report of how their children are doing, small variations could be reflective of the variability in parental responses rather than actual trends. It is only when small changes in the same direction are consistently observed over time that a trend may be established. Additional reports on the well-being of Canada's young children will continue to monitor changes in the indicators to determine whether sustained change in the well-being of children has occurred.

Table 5 Indicators of Child Well-Being
Indicator	1998/99 unless otherwise indicated	2000/01 unless otherwise indicated	2002/03 unless otherwise indicated
Percentage of Young Children Born at a Healthy Birth Weight*	81.3%	80.6%	81%
	(1999)	(2000)	(2002)
Pre-term Birthrate — Percentage of Children Born at 37 Weeks of Gestation or Later	92.7%	92.5%	92.5%
	(1999)	(2000)	(2002)
Number of Cases of Haemophilus Influenzae-b Among Young Children*	14	16	9
	(1999)	(2001)	(2003)
Number of Cases of Meningococcal Group C Disease Among Young Children*	12	27	5
	(1999)	(2001)	(2003)
Number of Cases of Measles Among Young Children*	11	7	6
	(1999)	(2001)	(2003)
Infant Mortality Rate — Number of Deaths per 1,000 Live Births*	5.3	5.3	5.4
	(1999)	(2000)	(2002)
Percentage of Young Children Who Are Being or Were Breastfed	79.9%	82.1%	84.2%
Percentage of Young Children Diagnosed with Asthma	9.9%	10.2%	9.4%
Injury Hospitalization — Number of Cases Among Young Children (per 100,000)	Children from birth to 1: 513.6 Children from 1 to 4: 478.2	Children from birth to 1: 436.8 Children from 1 to 4: 442.3	Children from birth to 1: 448.6 Children from 1 to 4: 393.6
Injury Mortality Rate —Proportion of All Deaths Among Young Children That Were the Result of an Injury (per 100,000)	9.3 (1999)	7.9 (2000)	Data not yet available
(New) Incidence of Cancer Among Young Children from Birth to 4 Years of Age (per 100,000)	Children from birth to 1: 29.5 Children from 1 to 4: 22.9 (1998)	Children from birth to 1: 23.0 Children from 1 to 4: 19.9 (2000)	Data not yet available
Percentage of Young Children Displaying Average to Advanced Levels of Motor and Social Development (MSD)*	86.1%	88.1%	86.4%
Percentage of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Emotional Problem-Anxiety*	86.2%	86.5%	83.3%
Percentage of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Hyperactivity-Inattention*	87.8%	94.0%	94.5%
Percentage of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Physical Aggression-Conduct Problem*	86.5%	88.0%	85.4%
Percentage of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Low Pro-social Behaviour	89.8%	This information is no longer captured in the NLSCY. The indicator has been replaced by "Percentage of Children Displaying Age-Appropriate Personal-Social Behaviour."	This information is no longer captured in the NLSCY. The indicator has been replaced by "Percentage of Children Displaying Age-Appropriate Personal-Social Behaviour."
Percentage of Children Displaying Age-Appropriate Personal-Social Behaviour*	This information was not captured for this year in the NLSCY.	88.5%	84.3%
Language Skills — Percentage of Children Displaying Average to Advanced Verbal Development*	84.1%	85.5%	86.9%
(New) Percentage of Children Displaying Average to Advanced Number Knowledge	This information was not captured for this year in the NLSCY.	85.3%	84.3%
(New) Percentage of Children Displaying Average to Advanced Levels of Copying Skills and Writing Tasks	This information was not captured for this year in the NLSCY.	84.8%	85.7%
Family Related Measures
Parental Education —Percentage Who Had Obtained Postsecondary Education	Mothers — 45.3%	Mothers — 47.7%	Mothers — 52.6%
	Fathers — 48.7%	Fathers — 49.9%	Fathers — 53.0%
Level of Income — Percentage of All Families with Young Children Living Above the Post-Tax Low Income Cutoff	83.6%	86.5%	87.3%
	(1999)	(2001)	(2003)
Percentage of Parents Not Displaying Signs of Parental Depression	88.8%	89.4%	90.7%
Percentage of Mothers Who Use Tobacco During Pregnancy	19.4%	18.5%	15.9%
Percentage of Mother Who Consume Alcohol During Pregnancy	14.4%	13.9%	15.6%
Parental Smoking —Percentage Who Do Not Smoke At All	Mothers — 73.6%	Mothers — 75.0%	Mothers — 79.2%
	Fathers — 69.5%	Fathers — 71.3%	Fathers — 73.9%
Percentage of Parents Indicating Positive Family Functioning Among Family Members	89.1%	88.6%	90.2%
Positive Parenting — Percentage of Parents Indicating Positive Interaction Within the Family	88.0%	90.0%	93.3%
Reading by Adult — Percentage of Children Who Are Read to Daily or Several Times per Day	69.7%	65.4%	67.3%
(New) Distribution of Children in Child Care by Type of Care	Parental Care: 51.7%	Parental Care: 47.8%	Parental Care: 47%
	Non-Parental Care: 48.3% total, of which… 51.3% care in someone else's home 25.9% care in the child's home 18.1% daycare centre 4.7% other	Non-Parental Care: 52.2% total, of which… 49.3% care in someone else's home 23.4% care in the child's home 23.2% daycare centre 4.1% other	Non-Parental Care: 53% total, of which… 45.9% care in someone else's home 21.6% care in the child's home 27.8% daycare centre 4.7% other
(New) Non-Parental Childcare — Distribution of Children by Number of Hours	<23 hrs/week — 37.8%> >24 hrs/week — 62.2%	<23 hrs/week — 39.5%> >24 hrs/week — 61.5%	<23 hrs/week — 40.7%> > 24 hrs/week — 59.3%
Community Related Measures
Percentage of Parents Indicating a Sense of Neighbourhood Cohesion	84.9%	85.9%	87.0%
Percentage of Parents Indicating a Sense of Neighbourhood Safety	This measure was not captured in 1998—99.	75.8%	77.9%
Percentage of Families with Children Living in Core Housing Need	Data not available	Rental Households — 36.6% Owner Households — 6.2% (2001)	Data not yet available.