Statistics for the Dallas and Fort Worth Area
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Births to Unmarried Women:
Percent of Total Births to Unmarried Women ( National Center for Health Statistics)

           Fort Worth – 37.6%

           Dallas – 38.7%

Teen Births (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2000)-         
Texas has the second highest rate of teen births in the United States

Economic and Social Outcomes: About half of Texas teen mothers drop out of school, costing the state over $17B in forgone income, lost tax revenues, increased costs in welfare, crime and  incarceration, unemployment insurance and placement, and adult training and education for each dropout (Dallas Commission on Children and Youth, May 2000).

Dallas – 2000:

Percent of total births to teens – 16.6%
Percent of teen births to women who were already mothers – 26.0%
Percent of total births to unmarried women – 38.7%
Percent of total births to mothers with less than 12 years of education – 45.9%
***Dallas leads the nation's major cities in number of mothers with less than 12 years education

Fort Worth – 2000:

Percent of total births to teens – 16.7%
Percent of teen births to women who were already mothers – 24.4%
Percent of total births to unmarried women – 37.6%
Percent of total births to mothers with less than 12 years of education – 38.9%

Dallas Commission on Children and Youth
Of teens that give birth, 46% will access some form of public assistance within four years.
60% of teen mothers who marry before age 18 are separated within six years of marriage. 
Only 42% of teen fathers have steady employment, and they earn 40% less than men over age 24.
Children born to teen mothers are far more likely to drop out of school, live in poverty and become teen parents themselves

Poverty (Dallas Commission on Children and Youth, May, 2000)

Approximately 83% of teen births in Dallas County are to mothers in poverty
52% of parents in Texas were not paying their court ordered child support in 2000.

Dallas:

One out of every five Dallas children is being raised in poverty, 
Every fifth child in Dallas is in danger from poverty especially given recent economic and social events

Percentage of people living in poverty – 13.4%
Number of people living in poverty – 293,267 (a 19.5% increase from 1989)

Crime (Dallas Commision on Children and Youth, May 2000)

Dallas residents are six times more likely than someone living in NYC to be a victim of crime (Dallas Crime Statistics, 2003)

Crime rose by 7.5% in 2001; reported rapes rose by 11% between 2000 & 2001

Domestic Violence

Dallas
In 2002, the Family Violence unit of the City of Dallas Police Department reported receiving 19,206 emergency 911 calls
for help because of domestic violence, resulting in 16,583 family violence offenses.

****In Dallas during 2002, 18 lives were lost to family violence.

The Family Place, an organization serving domestic violence victims reports:
In 2002, receiving 23,995 hotline and referral calls.
In 2002, (through the Emergency Shelter program) providing food, short-term housing, counseling and supportive services to 1,288 women and children.

In Texas

• The majority of victims of family violence in Texas 2000 were between the ages of 20 and 24.
  - The Texas Department of Public Safety
  
  
• Batterers between the ages of 20 and 24 accounted for the highest number of family violence
  incidents in Texas in 2000, with the second highest being batterers between the ages of 25 and 20.
  - The Texas Department of Public Safety
  
  
• The most common weapon involved in family violence cases in 2000 in Texas was physical force
  through the use of hands, feet, and fists. That accounted for 77 percent of the incidents.
  - The Texas Department of Public Safety
  
  
• Of all the women killed in 1997 in Texas, 35% were murdered by their intimate male
  partners. As reported by the FBI, the national average is 28%.
  - The Texas Department of Public Safety

Single Parent Households (US Census, 2000)

Dallas

30% of households with children are single-parent households
Single-parent households, on average, have an income 30% less than the median household income level

Marriage and Divorce (Census 2000)

In 2000 there were 9,520 divorces.

In 2000, there were 593.66 divorces per 1000 marriages

Immigration (Dallas International, 2000)

- Between 1990 and 2000, the immigrant population increased by 146% in North Texas
- Approximately 35% of the total Metroplex population are immigrants and dependents
- One in six residents in North Texas was born in another country
- North Texas new communities by country:
      Somalia, Tonga, Bosnia, Kurdistan, Iraq, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Tibet, and Kosovo.

Percents Representing Cultural Diversity

Percentage of Total Population by Race for Dallas from 1990-2000 (US Census 2000)

Race/Ethnicity                1990                 2000            

White                               60.2%               45.1%      

African American             19.5%               20.5%      

Hispanic                           17.0%               29.9%      

Asian/Other                      3.2%                 4.5%        

- Dallas County ranks fifth in the nation in numbers of Hispanic residents (Dallas International)

- Hispanics represent 35% of the City of Dallas population

- Five out of every six immigrants to our region between 1999-2000 were born in Latin America.

- 85% of the Latino population is Mexican

 ***Great News: The national SMART MARRIAGES conference is in Dallas, Texas July 8-11, 2004!
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