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Social Work: Stats & Data

Last Updated: Nov 6, 2024 10:14 AM

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  1. Comprehensive Statistics
  2. Specialized Statistics
  3. Tools 
  4. Data Resources

Comprehensive Statistics

Specialized Statistics

Aging/Aged 

Health and Retirement Study

This is a longitudinal  panel study of health, retirement and aging which samples more than 26,000 Americans over the age of 50. 

AARP - State Data Center

This site provides statistics and reports on Social Security, Medicare, housing, long-term care, poverty level, caregiver estimates and more on a state-by-state level. 

Older Persons’ Health - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This page provides quick links to statistics on life expectancy, health status, health risks, health care utilization, hospice care and mortality in the United States. 


Children, Youth, and Family 

Childstats.gov

The page includes the signature report of the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, which features statistics on children and families in the United States across a range of domains, including family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education and health.  Past reports are also available.

Child Welfare Statistics and Research-Children's Bureau, Administration for Children & Families

This site provides federal and state adoption, foster care, and child maltreatment statistics and reports.

Children's Defense Fund Research Data and Publications

The Children’s Defense Fund  provides statistics on a range of areas that show how children are faring in the country as a whole and in individual states.


Criminal Justice and Violence 

Bureau of Justice Statistics

The primary source for United States’ criminal justice statistics. Information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government can be found on this site.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics

This resource brings together data from more than 100 sources about many aspects of criminal justice in the United States.

Statistical Briefing Book-Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

This site provides statistical information on juvenile offending, victimization of juveniles, and involvement of youth in the juvenile justice system.


Education

Annual Reports-National Center for Education Statistics

Gateway to statistics found in these annual reports from the Department of Education: The Condition of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States, Indicators of School Crime and Safety, and Projections of Education Statistics.

Education Statistics from The World Bank

The World Bank EdStats offers internationally comparable indicators such as literacy, expenditures, completion, and access to education. 

OECD Education GPS

Provides statistics on education from 68 countries such as average performance in mathematics, science literacy and reading by 15-year-old students, adult literacy rates and literacy averages across varying age ranges. 


Health and Mental Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Data & Statistics

Data and Statistics are linked by topics which include statistics on aging, asthma, cancer HIV/AIDS and many more topics

Kaiser Family Foundation

The foundation focuses on major health issues and is a non-partisan source of facts, statistics and reports.

National Institute of Mental Health

Statistics on this site include numbers on prevalence by specific mental disorder and age group,  suicide rates, and figures on the costs involved in mental illness. 

Office of Minority Health Data/Statistics-Department of Health and Human Services

Statistical health profiles of racial and ethnic populations in the United States.

World Health Organization-Global Health Observatory

This portal provides access to data and reports by country, topic, etc.


Homelessness/Housing 

Point-in-Time (PIT) and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) Data

The Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) is an online data submission tool for reporting to HUD. publishes data on the Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR).

National Alliance to End Homelessness

Search the library in this web site for useful annual reports, fact sheets and interactive tools which provide statistics on homelessness in the United States. 

State of the Nation's Housing

This report is produced annually by the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. Informative tables and figures are included.


Immigration

Data & Statistics-Department of Homeland Security

Key data sets published by the Office of Immigration Statistics.

Immigration Data Hub-Migration Policy Institute

Access to the latest immigration statistics, maps, and numbers for the United States and other countries.


Poverty

National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)-Columbia University

State profiles, data tools and more are available.

Poverty-U.S. Census Bureau

This page is a gateway to poverty data collected by the Census Bureau, and includes  reports, facts about how poverty is measured by the Census Bureau, poverty measurement studies, and more.

Poverty & Equity Data

Regional and country dashboards displaying latest data and trends in poverty and inequality. Produced by the World Bank.


Public Assistance

Food and Nutrition Service Data and Statistics-USDA

Data  on USDA Nutrition Assistance programs such as SNAP, school meals, WIC.

Social Security Administration Statistics

Statistics and data files on programs covered by the SSA, e.g., SSI, Medicare, Disability, as well as socioeconomic characteristics, demographics, etc. 

Tools

These resources will help you to use and present statistics effectively in your research.

Data

These resources will provide access to raw data sets for your research projects.

  • ICPSR - ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. (University at Michigan)
  • GSS - The GSS contains a standard core of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Among the topics covered are civil liberties, crime and violence, intergroup tolerance, morality, national spending priorities, psychological well-being, social mobility, and stress and traumatic events. (University of Chicago)