America’s Forgotten
Orphans Fact Sheets
State Facts Illustrate Epidemics in Most States
The Fierce Urgency of Now
With every day our nation waits,
another 850 American children become an orphan.
Today, more than 2.2 million children under the age of eighteen in the United States have experienced the death of a co-resident parent. As a result of their loss, many of these children face significant physical, social, and economic hardships for the rest of their lives.
In this first-of-its-kind report, we examine the current and historical trends in childhood bereavement and discover it is an epidemic hiding in plain sight impacting every state, race, and ethnicity in the nation.
Beyond discovering this crisis, we provide a road map for federal lawmakers, philanthropists, and other public leaders to create equal, healthy, and prosperous futures for all our nation’s orphans. You can learn more by downloading the full report.