Recent Research Reports and News: August
2003
Fathers—Research | Children
& Families | Fatbers/Mothers
in Prison | Census Data
| Systemic Barriers
| Welfare Reform
| NCOFF Abstracts
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Married and Unmarried Parenthood and Economic Well-Being: A
Dynamic Analysis of a Recent Cohort, Robert I. Lerman, Urban
Institute, July 1, 2002
Excerpt: Over the last four decades, the declining proportion
of married adults in the United States has contributed to a significant
worsening of the economic status of families with children. The
rise in single parenthood, together with limited child support payments,
has meant that more children must rely primarily on the income of
only one of their parents, usually the mother. As a result, despite
healthy growth in per capita income, child poverty rates in the
U.S. have remained at their 1970s levels. Researchers have demonstrated
that reduced marriage propensities have caused substantially higher
child poverty rates, even after accounting for the fact that the
men unmarried mothers might marry have lower incomes than current
married fathers (Lerman, 1996; Sawhill and Thomas, 2001).
For a copy of the report in PDF format, visit the Urban
Institute web site.
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Children of Prisoners, 2003, Family and Corrections Network,
2003.
Family and Corrections Network has published its 35th issue of FCN
Reprot. Titled, Children of Prisoners 2003, it reports on Child
Welfare League of America sponsored conferences held in Washington,
DC in March 2003.
The Report includes a new research summary on children of prisoners
in New Mexico and remarks by Chesa Boudin, a Yale University senior
with parents in prison. The 24 page Report has a series of profiles
on conference presenters: Michael Carlin of the FatherRight Project
at the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents; Caitlen Daniels
of St. Rose Youth and Family Center; Dee Ann Newell of the Family
Matters Program; and Peter Breen, Senior Fellow at Child Welfare
League of America. There are photos and statements from the Youth
Panel presention by children of prisoners and much more.
For information on obtaining this report, contact FCN at (434)-589-3036.
(Available to FCN members only.)
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Employment Alone is Not Enough for America's Low-Income Children
and Families, Nancy K. Cauthen and Hsien-Hen Lu, National Center
for Children in Poverty, August 2003.
Abstract: This first report in the series focuses on the limits
of low-wage employment, which by itself is insufficient to move families
from poverty to economic self-sufficiency, and highlights public policies
that can make a difference, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and
a decreased payroll tax burden in the lower brackets.
To obtain a copy of the report in PDF format, visit the NCCP
web site.
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Improving Child Care Quality: A Comparison of Military and
Civilian Approaches, Maria D. Montilla and Carol J. De Vita,
Urban Institute, July 31, 2003.
Excerpt: New information on early childhood learning and increasing
demand for child care services have placed a spotlight on the need
to improve the quality of early education and care in America. Research
on brain development and learning has shown the importance of early
education for young children (Shonkoff and Phillips 2000). Surveys
of child care settings have documented the mediocre to poor quality
of many of our child care programs (Helburn and Bergmann 2002). Mothers
who work outside the home report that child care is a critical factor
in their lives, and welfare reforms are intrinsically linked to the
availability of child care services. While almost everyone agrees
that something needs to be done, there is less agreement on how to
do it.
The U.S. Military Child Care System (MCCS) provides a model for
addressing the problems of both affordable and quality care. As
a study by the National Women's Law Center documented (Campbell
et al. 2000), the MCCS turned its child care program from one that
was plagued with allegations of abuse and poor conditions into an
exemplary model of quality care and affordable costs. The success
of these efforts is tied to five factors that are relevant to civilian
programs:
* Training and education of child care providers;
* Linkages between training and compensation;
* Subsidies to assure affordable costs for parents;
* Licensing and accreditation standards to improve quality; and
* Inspections and oversight to establish accountability within
the system.
These factors apply not only to the MCCS child development centers,
but also to its family child care providers and afterschool programs.
The focus of this report, however, will be on child development
centers.
For a copy of the report in PDF format, visit the Urban
Institute web site.
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Low-Income Children in the United States -- Fact Sheet (2003),
Hsien-Hen Lu, National Center for Children in Poverty, July 2003.
This new fact sheet offers the latest available demographic information
in a quick and easy format.
For a copy of the Fact Sheet in HTML format, visit the NCCP
web site.
New Citations from NCOFF's
FatherLit Database
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