Building a Mystery

San Francisco becoming a child-free zone as youth population declines

Despite efforts to stem the tide of family flight, the population of children in San Francisco continues to ebb.

Families that remain in The City are bucking the trend that has plagued San Francisco for years as the number of children — defined as people up to 17 years old — has dropped from 181,532 in 1960 to 107,524 today, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures. The 2000 census counted 112,802 youths.

The decrease is disappointing news for city officials, who have attempted to counter the family-flight trend by creating more affordable housing, improving schools and cutting costs, such as a college savings account for kindergarten enrollees.  

“It’s definitely not a hopeful sign that we have 5,000 less kids,” said N’Tanya Lee, the executive director of San Francisco-based advocacy group Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, which lobbies City Hall on budget and housing issues.

There's no possible explanation. How can it be that the number of children in San Francisco dropped so much since 1960 in spite of the total population remaining stable? How can it be that San Francisco has continued to see a reduction of the number of children over the last decade in spite of city officials creating more affordable housing, improving schools, and offering college savings accounts to kindergarden enrollees?