Left Unsupervised: A Look at the Most Vulnerable Children

• NCJ Number: 200335
• Author(s): Sharon Vandivere M.P.P; Kathryn Tout Ph.D.; Jeffrey Capizzano M.A.; Martha Zaslow Ph.D.
• Date Published: April 2003
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: Child Trends
• Sale Source: Child Trends
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Child Trends Research Brief; downloaded May 14, 2003.

Annotation

This document discusses children that lack adult supervision, particularly the youngest school age children and low-income children.

Abstract

Self-care is not always harmful. Children become more independent as they mature, gradually spending more and more time alone and taking increasing amounts of responsibility for caring for themselves. But children caring for themselves may miss out on potentially beneficial opportunities. They may spend their time watching television or playing video games instead of participating in academic or social activities. Self-care can be a potentially dangerous situation. Children that are home without adult supervision and social interaction with peers may also experience isolation and loneliness. The less mature children are, the more risky it is for them to spend time unsupervised. Most 6- to 9-year-olds are probably not ready developmentally to care for themselves regularly. They are probably less prepared than older children to deal with household emergencies. For low-income children, having an adult looking after them or having opportunities to benefit from regular high-quality child care or after-school programs may be particularly important because of disadvantages that they more often face, such as living in unsafe neighborhoods. Data were analyzed from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families. Results show that despite their families’ limited financial resources, low-income children generally are less likely to be in self-care than children in higher-income households are, especially when they are young. Children with parents reporting symptoms of poor mental health are more likely to spend time unsupervised than children whose parents do not report symptoms of poor mental health. Although it was found that the vast majority of children are not in self-care, the actual number of children in these circumstances is substantial. This may point to unmet needs for affordable supervised care options. 2 figures, 26 endnotes