Research Reports and News Posted June
2002:
Fathers—Research | Children
& Families | Fatbers/Mothers
in Prison | Census Data
| Systemic Barriers
| Welfare Reform
| NCOFF Abstracts
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Charting Parenthood: A Statistical Portrait of Fathers and
Mothers in America, Tamara Halle, Child Trends, June 2002.
Executive Summary excerpt:
The great majority of Americans will become parents at some point
in their lives. The statistics presented in this volume suggest that
for the vast majority of parents, raising children is a central focus
of their lives.
But how much do we know about the experience of parenting in America
today, about the decisions and actions of fathers and mothers, even
about the planning (or lack thereof) that precedes conception and
childbearing? Where previous efforts have focused largely on the
experiences of women and mothers, Charting Parenthood greatly expands
our understanding in these areas by bringing men systematically
into the picture and offering the best available data that include
both men and women, fathers and mothers, for more than 40 indicators
of parenting, fertility, and family formation. When men and women
are both considered we find that, in some critical areas, their
views and experiences diverge, while in other areas there is surprising
agreement.
The data also provide important insights into the value men place
on family life and childrearing, and on the multiple contributions
that fathers can make to the lives of children. These insights suggest
that many men have a deep commitment to raising children in the
context of marriage, and that substantial percentages of fathers
are deeply and regularly involved in play, discipline, and primary
caregiving. For example:
- Most fathers who live with their children participate regularly
in some kind of leisure or play activity with them. While mothers
are more likely to do "quiet" activities (reading a book or doing
a puzzle, for example), fathers are more likely to play an outdoor
game or sports activity. Very high levels of both fathers and
mothers report talking at least once a week with their children
about their family.
- Substantial percentages of fathers who live with their children
are engaged in monitoring their childrenis daily activities and
in setting limits on these activities. For example, 61 percent
set limits on what television programs their children are allowed
to watch.
- Men are much more likely than women to believe that two parents
are more effective at raising children than one parent alone.
- More than one in five young children in two-parent families
have their father as the primary caregiver when the mother is
at work, attending school, or looking for work.
- While 40 percent of children whose fathers live outside the
home have no contact with them, the other 60 percent had contact
an average of 69 days in the last year.
We highlight below some of the key findings in each of the three major
sections of this volume: parenting, family formation, and fertility.
Unless otherwise specified in this summary, "parents" refers to mothers
or fathers that live with their children.
For a copy of the complete report in PDF format, visit the Child
Trend web site.
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Marriage from a Child's Perspective: How Does Family Structure
Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It? Kristin Anderson
Moore, Susan M. Jekielek, and Carol Emig, Child Trends, June 2002.
Overview:
Policies and proposals to promote marriage have been in the public
eye for several years, driven by concern over the large percentages
of American children growing up with just one parent. The Bush Administration
has proposed improving children's well-being as the overarching purpose
of welfare reform, and its marriage initiative is one of its chief
strategies for doing so. In this context, what does research tell
us about the effects of family structure - and especially of growing
up with two married parents - on children?
This brief reviews the research evidence on the effects of family
structure on children, as well as key trends in family structure
over the last few decades. An extensive body of research tells us
that children do best when they grow up with both biological parents
in a low-conflict marriage. At the same time, research on how to
promote strong, low-conflict marriages is thin at best. This brief
also discusses promising strategies for reducing births outside
of marriage and promoting strong, stable marriages.
For a copy of the complete brief, visit the Child
Trends web site.
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Preventing Teenage Pregnancy, Childbearing, and Sexually Transmitted
Diseases: What the Research Shows, Jennifer Manlove, Elizabeth
Terry-Humen, Angela Romano Papillo, Kerry Franzetta, Stephanie Williams,
and Suzanne Ryan, Child Trends, May 2002.
Overview:
Despite a 22 percent decline in the rate of teenagers giving birth
in the United States since 1991, adolescent reproductive health remains
a pressing social issue. The U.S. teen birth rate, while declining,
is still one of the highest among developed nations. For example,
the teen birth rate in the U.S. in the mid-1990s was more than double
the rate for Canada and more than four times the rate in Germany.
Moreover, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States,
highest among teens and young adults, are higher than STD rates in
other industrialized nations.
Why does this matter? Because adolescent childbearing and STDs
carry significant social costs. These costs are borne by the teenagers
themselves, by society as a whole, and - perhaps most poignantly
- by the children of teenage mothers, who start out life at serious
disadvantage.52 Beyond the social costs are the financial ones which
are measured in the billions of dollars.
In this brief, we define improved adolescent reproductive health
as involving one of the following behaviors: delaying sexual initiation,
reducing the frequency of sexual activity, reducing the number of
sexual partners, increasing condom use and overall contraceptive
use, and reducing the rate of unintended pregnancy and childbearing,
as well as lowering the incidence of STDs among teenagers. To do
so, in turn, requires taking a closer look at the range of factors
that lead to positive reproductive health behaviors.
In this context, Child Trends conducted a review of more than
150 research studies on adolescent reproductive health to identify
the factors that contribute to improving adolescent reproductive
health. This Research Brief highlights these and other findings
from the vantage point of adolescents as individuals and within
the context of their families, peers, partners, schools, and communities.
In addition, we developed a What Works table (see insert) that identifies
specific programs and approaches that have been found successful
in improving positive reproductive health behaviors. Experimental
studies that focus on reproductive health outcomes discussed in
the section on policy implications, show mixed results from evaluations
of sexuality education and HIV education programs, which are part
of many schools' curriculums. Among programs and approaches found
to be successful in improving reproductive health behaviors are
those that focus on early childhood development, those that combine
sexuality education for older children with positive activities,
such as participating in voluntary community service and youth development
programs, and those that send nurses to visit with teenage mothers
with reducing the likelihood of having another child as a teen as
one of their goals.
This is the first in a series of Research Briefs based on a comprehensive
review of adolescent development research. The American Teens series
will cover reproductive health, physical health and safety, social
skills, education, mental and emotional health and civic engagement
as they relate to adolescents.
For a copy of the complete brief, visit the Child
Trends web site.
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The Multiple Dimensions of Child Abuse and Neglect:
New Insights into an Old Problem, Rosemary Chalk, Alison Gibbons, and Harriet J. Scarupa, Child Trends, May 2002.
Introduction:
Despite persistent media headlines about extreme cases of child abuse and neglect, the public
remains largely uninformed about the developmental status of children affected by this tragic problem.
The immediate markers of abuse and neglect are obvious bruised and battered bodies and,
in its most severe form, death. However, research has shown that child abuse and neglect collectively
known as child maltreatment are also associated with a broad array of less visible negative
outcomes that may emerge at different stages of childrens lives.
As we report in this Research Brief, these other more hidden consequences can result in long-term health
and cognitive effects and developmental delays. Some of these long-term outcomes result from specific
injuries and aggressive actions; other effects, equally damaging but often less apparent, originate in the
absence of positive interactions between parents and their children and the lack of response to a childs
basic physical and emotional needs.
This Research Brief draws on available data and recent research studies to summarize what is known about
these outcomes in several critical areas physical and mental health; cognitive and educational attainment;
and social and behavioral development. To put this information into a larger context, we also briefly sketch
out the dimensions and severity of the child maltreatment problem and the demographic characteristics
of its victims.
Finally, this brief considers the need to develop reliable indicators to assess and monitor the outcomes of children
reported for abuse and neglect. In particular, we suggest that incorporating child well-being indicators
into the existing databases of local and state social service agencies may be a feasible and practical way to
improve the capacity of these agencies to address the needs of vulnerable children. The use of child
well-being indicators could also provide benchmarks to inform public officials and community leaders about
the conditions and needs of the populations served by social service agencies, and to monitor their outcomes
as programs, policies, and practice guidelines change over time.
For a copy of the complete brief, visit the Child
Trends web site.
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Early Head Start Research: Making a Difference in the Lives
of Infants and Toddlers and Their Families: The Impacts of Early
Head Start, Mathematica, Inc., June 2002.
The final report to Congress presents complete findings from our seven-year
national evaluation of Early Head Start. The findings show that the
program promotes learning and the parenting that supports it within
the first three years of life. Participating children perform significantly
better in cognitive, language, and social-emotional development than
their peers who do not participate. The program also had important
impacts on many aspects of parenting and the home environment, and
supported parents' progress toward economic self-sufficiency. Programs
that more fully implemented the Head Start Performance Standards achieved
larger impacts across a wide range of outcomes.
Executive Summary Excerpt:
Early Head Start and Its Early Development in Brief
Following the recommendations of the Secretary's Advisory Committee
on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers in 1994, the
Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) designed Early
Head Start as a two-generation program to enhance children's development
and health, strengthen family and community partnerships, and support
the staff delivering new services to low-income families with pregnant
women, infants, or toddlers. In 1995 and 1996, ACYF funded the first
143 programs, revised the Head Start Program Performance Standards
to bring Early Head Start under the Head Start umbrella, created
an ongoing national system of training and technical assistance
(provided by the Early Head Start National Resource Center in coordination
with ACYFis regional offices and training centers), and began conducting
regular program monitoring to ensure compliance with the performance
standards. Today, the program operates in 664 communities and serves
some 55,000 children.
At the same time, ACYF selected 17 programs from across the country
to participate in a rigorous, large-scale, random-assignment evaluation.2
The Early Head Start evaluation was designed to carry out the recommendation
of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants
and Toddlers for a strong research and evaluation component to support
continuous improvement within the Early Head Start program and to
meet the requirement in the 1994 and 1998 reauthorizations for a
national evaluation of the new infant-toddler program. The research
programs include all the major program approaches and are located
in all regions of the country and in urban and rural settings. The
families they serve are highly diverse. Their purposeful selection
resulted in a research sample (17 programs and 3,001 families) that
reflects the characteristics of all programs funded in 1995 and
1996, including their program approaches and family demographic
characteristics.
Programs and Services
Early Head Start grantees are charged with tailoring their program
services to meet the needs of low-income pregnant women and families
with infants and toddlers in their communities and may select among
program options specified in the performance standards (home-based,
center-based, combination, and locally designed options). Grantees
are required to provide child development services, build family
and community partnerships, and support staff to provide high-quality
services for children and families. Early Head Start programs may
select from a variety of approaches to enhance child development
directly and to support child development through parenting and/or
family development services.
For purposes of the research, the 17 research programs were characterized
according to the options they offer families as (1) center-based,
providing all services to families through center-based child care
and education, parent education, and a minimum of two home visits
per year to each family; (2) home-based, providing all services
to families through weekly home visits and at least two group socializations
per month for each family; or (3) mixed approach, a diverse group
of programs providing center-based services to some families, home-based
services to other families, or a mixture of centerbased and home-based
services.3 When initially funded, the 17 research programs were
about equally divided among the three program approaches. However,
by fall 1997, seven had adopted a home-based approach, four were
center-based, and six were mixed-approach programs.4
The structure of Early Head Start programs was influenced during
the first five years by a number of changes occurring in their communities
and states. Families' needs changed as parents entered the workforce
or undertook education and training activities in response to welfare
reform or job opportunities created by favorable economic conditions.
The resources for early childhood services also increased due in
part to strong local economies. Meanwhile, state and community health
initiatives created new access to services for all low-income families,
and the federal Fatherhood Initiative heightened attention
to issues of father involvement.
The Early Head Start research programs stimulated better outcomes
along a range of dimensions (with children, parents, and home environments)
by the time children's eligibility ended at age 3.5 Overall impacts
were modest, with effect sizes in the 10 to 20 percent range, although
impacts were considerably larger for some subgroups, with some effect
sizes in the 20 to 50 percent range. The overall pattern of favorable
impacts is promising, particularly since some of the outcomes that
the programs improved are important predictors of later school achievement
and family functioning.
For a copy of the full report (includes 3 volumes), please visit
Mathematica's
web site.
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The Evaluation of Abstinence Education Programs Funded Under
Title V, Section 510, Barbara Devaney, Amy Johnson, Rebecca Maynard,
and Chris Trenholm, Mathematica, Inc., April 2000.
Press Release:
A new report from Mathematica's evaluation of abstinence education
programs presents early implementation and operational lessons from
the study. Researchers are examining 11 programs across the country.
Five are "targeted"—that is, they target their services
to specific groups of youth. The other six are community-wide systemic-change
initiatives.
Findings from the study include:
* Section 510 abstinence funds are changing approaches to teenage
pregnancy prevention and youth risk avoidance. Despite initial
debate in some states over whether and how to spend abstinence
funding, all states applied for it, and most are using it in innovative
ways to promote abstinence as the healthiest choice for youth.
* Most programs offer more than a single message of abstinence.
In addition to promoting abstinence, programs address larger issues,
such as healthy relationships, self-worth, good decision-making,
and effective communication.
* Most participants report favorable feelings about their program
experience. They respond positively to staff who show strong and
unambiguous commitment to the program message. They also like
programs that deliver an intensive set of youth development services
to enhance and support the abstinence message.
* Programs face real challenges in addressing peer pressure and
communication between parents and children. Many programs attempt
to address peer pressure through parents, but engaging them has
proved challenging.
* Local schools are valuable program partners, but establishing
these partnerships is sometimes difficult. Sometimes schools resist
collaboration because of competing priorities; other resistance
stems from debate about health and sex education priorities.
A report on short-term program impacts will be available in spring
2003. The final report from the evaluation is scheduled for summer
2005. Additional topical reports will be prepared throughout the
study period.
For a copy of the complete report in PDF format, visit the Mathematica
web site.
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Number of Mothers on Welfare Decreases, U.S. Census Bureau, June 6, 2002.
The number of mothers participating in the primary public assistance
program for families decreased by about 50 percent between 1996 and 2000
from 3 million to 1.5 million, according to data collected since the
passage of welfare reform and released today by the Commerce Department's
Census Bureau.
"This report provides initial insight into how the actions of mothers
receiving public assistance corresponded with the intent of welfare reform
in the context of economic growth to end long-term dependence on
government benefits," said Census Bureau analyst Pete Fronczek about the
report, Work and Work-Related Activities of Mothers Receiving Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families: 1996, 1998 and 2000.
In 1996, about 8 percent of all mothers were participants in Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was replaced by Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) that year. The proportion on TANF had
fallen to about 4 percent by 2000.
Some highlights from the report:
- Median monthly earnings of TANF participants increased significantly,
from $472 in 1996 to $738 in 2000.
- Of TANF mothers who worked in 1998, 2-in-3 did so voluntarily while
the other third said they were required by the welfare office to work.
- About 278,000 mothers receiving TANF were in training in 1998;
nearly 3-in-4 were learning skills for computer, clerical, machinery or
other vocational jobs. About 62 percent of these mothers also received
training in how to find jobs.
- About 1-in-4 mothers on TANF who were working or in job training
received a subsidy for child care in 1998.
- About 1-in-5 TANF mothers received their welfare benefits by using a
debit card at an ATM in 1998.
A second report, with tables, released today, Fertility and Program
Participation in the United States: 1996, provides information
not only on mothers participating in AFDC, but also those in the Food
Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children; and Medicaid. This report is an update of three
earlier Census Bureau reports based on mothers' fertility and program
participation in 1993.
"These are benchmark data on the fertility, marital status and household
characteristics of mothers who participated in at least one assistance
program in 1996, the year welfare reform was enacted," said Jane Dye, the
report's author.
The report said more than 1-in-5 mothers (8 million) in the childbearing
ages of 15-to-44 received public assistance from at least one of four
public assistance programs in 1996. About 2-in-5 mothers with infants were
receiving assistance.
Among teenage mothers, 70 percent received at least one form of public
assistance in 1996. Average fertility was higher among participants (2.4
births per mother) than nonparticipants (2.1).
Nearly 6-in-10 mothers participating in at least one assistance program
in 1996 had a nonmarital first birth, compared with 1-in-4 mothers not
receiving assistance.
Both reports use data from the Survey of Income and Program
Participation. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and
nonsampling error.
For links to the full Census reports, visit the Census Bureau web site.
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New Lives for Poor Families? Mothers and Young Children Move
through Welfare Reform, The Growing Up in Poverty Project, April
2002
Summary:
Policy leaders in Washington and the states are engaging a new debate
over an old question: How can society best aid jobless mothers and
enrich their children's lives? The dramatic reform of family welfare
policies in 1996, aided by robust economic growth, has moved millions
of women into low-wage jobs. But how to build from this success?
Would stiffer work requirements raise more families above the poverty
line? Could educational opportunities for mothers strengthen parenting?
How adequate is the current supply and quality of child care?
As these and other policy options are debated, one fact is clear:
We know surprisingly little about how state welfare-to-work programs
have touched the lives of young children since 1996oand perhaps
altered the home and child care settings in which they are now being
raised.
This report helps to fill that gap. Our project team followed
an initial sample of 948 mothers and preschool-age children for
two to four years after the women entered new welfare programsoin
California, Connecticut, and Florida. After two rounds of interviews
with mothers, assessments of their children's development, and visits
to homes and child care settings, these major findings have emerged:
* Many women have moved into low-wage jobs, and their total
income has risen significantly. Yet their income remains at just
over $12,000 annually, with most still living below the poverty
line.
* Related measures of economic well-being show little improvement.
For example, almost one fifth of all mothers recently cut the size
of meals because they didn't have enough money to buy more food,
three times the rate reported by all adults nationwide. The average
mother reported about $400 in savings.
* The magnitude of income gains, thus far, is too weak to improve
home environments or allow women to move into better neighborhoods.
Mothers are spending less time with their preschool-age children
as they leave home for jobs. No consistent gains were detected
in proliteracy parenting practices, like reading with their children,
establishing dinner-time or bedtime routines, sensitivity toward
the child, or for 49 other measures of home qualities.
* Participating mothers displayed twice the rate of clinical
depression, two in every five, compared to the general population.
Maternal depression sharply depresses their young children's development.
* Many children moved into new child care centers and preschools.
Lower-performing children who entered center-based programs displayed
significantly stronger gains in cognitive skills and school readiness, moving
about 3 months ahead of the children who remained in home-based
settings. This positive relationship was significantly stronger
for children who attended higher quality centers.
For a copy of the complete Executive Summary or full report
in PDF format, visit the
Policy Analysis for California (PACE) web site.
New Citations from
NCOFF's FatherLit Database
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