The special report presents a statistical portrait of the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of American children and youth. Children are considered to be persons under 14 years of age, and youth are seen to be between the ages of 14 and 24. Data in the report analyze trends among children and youth in the areas of population growth and distribution, migration, education, marital status and living arrangements, fertility, mortality, labor force participation, income and poverty status, voting, and crime. Data on children indicate they are a steadily declining proportion of the total population, that eight out of ten children are cared for by one parent while the children are not in school, and 80% under 18 years old in 1976 lived in families with both parents present. Accidents were the leading cause of death in 1975 for children. Data on youth show that they are highly mobile, their enrollments in the high school and college populations have increased since 1970, that most lived in families in 1976 (either their own or their parents'), and that incidence of divorce has increased in recent years. The youth labor force is estimated to grow in the remainder of the 1970s but at a slower rate than in the early 1970s. The bulk of the report contains tables of statistics illustrating these trends. (Author/AV)