The study focuses on nine critical issues impacting children: demographic conditions, trends, and projections; economic conditions; child care; education; health and nutrition; school-age pregnancy and child bearing; child abuse and maltreatment; alcohol and drug abuse; and racial and ethnic group inequality. The findings show that although most of the children of New York State live under healthy, safe, clean, and educationally sound conditions, 1 in 4 children in the State live in families with incomes below the poverty level, and the trend is toward 1 in 3. The children of young parents and children in minority families are at the highest risk of being poor. For such children, the minimal requirements for healthy development are not being met. Proposed principles for improving conditions for children are a sharing of the responsibility for children by both the family and society; an emphasis on prevention; and the use of broad, community-wide strategies for serving children's needs. Specifically, more public and private funds are recommended for birth control; prenatal care; immunization; nutrition for pregnant women; early education; compensatory education; and remedial education, training, and well-structured work experiences for youth. 117 references, appended supplementary material.