Access to Health Care for Disadvantaged Young Children

We analyzed data on 3,449 children under age 3 representing 15.7 million children from the United States, using the 1997 National Health Interview Survey. Our findings show that although most children under age 3 had a usual source of care, children at risk because of low income, minority status, or lack of insurance were 3 to 12 times more likely than children in the reference group (higher income, White, and insured) to be without a usual source of care, and 2 to 30 times more likely to have unmet needs for health care. Furthermore, young children in the at-risk groups had fewer visits to health professionals. We conclude that children in the at-risk groups continue to face substantial barriers in accessing basic health services.