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This is the ninth edition of Population Connection's report on children and cities. Its mission is to present the best available data on the social, economic, educational and physical environment in our cities--exactly where our children live, grow, learn and play.

Click here for the rankings of the Major Cities

Click here for the rankings of the Large Cities

Letter from Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Washington)
Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Washington) is currently serving his 8th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. McDermott was the first member of his family to attend college, and went on to finish medical school. As a physician, Rep. McDermott is especially interested in health care issues, and is leading the fight in the House of Representatives to guarantee all Americans comprehensive health coverage. click here for the full letter in pdf

From the President
Teen Pregnancy. You may have read recently that teen pregnancy rates in the United States have been going down and are now at all-time lows. That is absolutely true. However, it is more important to recognize that teen pregnancy and birth rates in the U.S. are still, by a wide margin, the highest in the industrialized world. click here for the full article in pdf

Population and Kids
For nearly two decades, we have published a biennial report on the quality of life in U.S. cities with a particular focus on children. Through all of these reports -- this is our ninth -- we have called attention to the things that each of us can do in our local communities to improve the quality of life of our most vulnerable citizens, our children. click here for the full article in pdf or HTML.

PopEd and Kids
Since we began putting out the Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card almost 18 years ago, there's been one question that pops up at each release: Why is a population stabilization organization interested in looking at cities as kid-friendly? click here for the full article in pdf or HTML

Sex Ed and Kids
With no federal policy or funding supporting compreshensive sexuality education, state laws primarily govern what local districts teach. If a state mandates sexuality education or prescribes what is taught if sexuality education classes occur, these laws set the parameters on classroom teaching. For example, California does not mandate sexuality education, but requires school districts that implement sexuality education to follow certain guidelines. click here for the full article in pdf

Community and Kids
A city is a noise, a smell. The murmur of the crowds at six and the quiet of the streets twelve hours later. Steinbeck called his beloved Monterey "a stink, a grating noise." "But seen through other eyes" he describes a transcendent place of warmth and quiet beauty. click here for the full article in pdf

Health and Kids
Healthy mothers and healthy children go hand-in-hand, which is why some of indicators that contribute to the Kid-Friendly Cities' health grade are intrinsically related to motherhood. When women receive quality reproductive health care and are given the opportunity to space or limit their pregnancies, their children benefit too. click here for the full article in pdf

The Shaw EcoVillage Project
"The thing about this neighborhood," says Jimmy, a staff mechanic draping his long arms over the bike he is working on, "is that I grew up three blocks from here and I never came down to this corner." Yet, on this sunny Saturday afternoon, Jimmy is working with dozens of local children who hang out regularly at the Shaw EcoVillage Project, an award-winning program for kids in an often-troubled area of Washington, DC. click here for the full article in pdf

Indicators and Data
Why did we choose particular indicators? Where did we find the data? Following is a list of our sources and an explanation of why we chose particular indicators for each category. click here for the full article in pdf

Major Cities
More than 28 million people live in the 20 cities in the Major City category. While this is only about 10 percent of the total population, it is an incredibly important 10 percent. click here for the full article in pdf

Large Cities
A little over 28 million people live in the 80 cities in the Large City category -- almost the same number that live in the 20 Major Cities. Together, the Large Cities and Major Cities comprise the 100 largest cities (in population) in the United States. click here for the full article in pdf

FAQ: 2004 Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card
Frequently asked questions about the Kid-Friendly cities Report Card 2004

Methodology
How did Philadelphia get an A- in Population, while San Francisco got a C? To determine grades, we scored each indicator (i.e. each data category, such as change in population or infant mortality rate) within a category using the same formula, so that we could equitably compare all of the indicators to each other. click here for the full article in pdf

Statistical Analysis
What can we tell by looking at particular indicators in the survey? Do any of the indicators have a large significance in relation to a city's overall grade? We ran several statistical analyses to determine whether there was any relation between individual indicators and a city's final grade in each category and overall rank. All of our indicators were weighted evenly in determining the final grade, but we wanted to know which indicators would show the largest correlation to the overall grade. click here for the full article in pdf

Honor Roll
The top three Major Cities and the top five Large Cities in each category are on the Honor Roll.