By Rogelio Sáenz University of Texas at San Antonio Latinos are increasingly driving the demographic fortunes of the United States. Between 2000 and 2011, the number of white children in the country declined by 4.9 million, a decrease of 11 percent. Blacks and American Indians and Alaska Natives also saw their child populations decline. The […]
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Childcare (Providers & Systems) / Economic Inequality / Latino Families / Race, Ethnicity & Culture
This month marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of an “unconditional war on poverty.” Yet this month also marks over a quarter century since President Ronald Reagan’s 1988 announcement that the war on poverty was over, and that poverty had won. In this report, University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen examines the many early victories, as well as the setbacks in the War on Poverty.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Economic Inequality / Marriage & Divorce / TANF & Public AssistanceThis month marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of an “unconditional war on poverty.” Yet this month also marks over a quarter century since President Ronald Reagan’s 1988 announcement that the war on poverty was over, and that poverty had won. Many politicians blame the resurgence of poverty on the spread of unwed motherhood and conclude that promoting marriage among low-income individuals would do more to reduce poverty than government investments. In this report, Ohio State University sociologist Kristi Williams examines how efforts to get impoverished single mothers to marry are unlikely to make much of a dent in poverty rates and may even have some harmful outcomes for mothers and children alike.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Economic Inequality / TANF & Public AssistanceThis month marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of an “unconditional war on poverty.” Yet this month also marks over a quarter century since President Ronald Reagan’s 1988 announcement that the war on poverty was over, and that poverty had won. To mark the anniversaries of these very different points in the government’s role in poverty reduction, two researchers from the Council on Contemporary Families assess where we have come from and where we stand today.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Economic Inequality / Marriage & Divorce / TANF & Public Assistance
CCF’s Dawn Braithwaite was on KFOR’s Lincoln Live radio show discussing children in families with same-sex parents. Listen to the interview on their website (after clicking, scroll down and select “Children in Gay Families”).
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / LGBTQ Partnering & Families
Joshua Coleman, CCF Co-Chair, was on NPR’s forum and on North Carolina’s KQED Radio discussing parenting and empty nests. It’s late August and flocks of future college freshmen have begun their migration to campuses around the country. For parents left at home, it can also be a stressful and sad time.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare
Today, almost 40 percent of all babies in the United States are born to women over 30, and almost 15 percent – 1 in 7 – are born to women 35 and over. As the chart below of historical trends in women’s fertility rates by age demonstrates, birth rates to women aged 15-24 have […]
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Fertility,Reproduction & Sexual Health / Gender & Sexuality / Health & Illness / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life
By Barbara Risman, Ph.D. Professor and Head of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago Phone: 919 349 0090 Email: brisman@uic.edu The gender revolution continues in many areas even if it has slowed down in others. The medical and legal professions are becoming feminized; women continue to outstrip men in educational attainment, recently surpassing them even […]
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare
As colleges across the country begin the new school year, we hear a chorus of warnings about a generation of young adults unable or unwilling to “leave the nest.” Phrases are bandied about: “Failure to launch”; “the Peter Pan syndrome”; “boomerang kids” who can’t seem to leave home and establish an independent life. Undergirding these warnings is a fear that the younger generation is growing soft, losing the pioneer independence and rugged individualism that once built this nation.
But a glance at the past suggests it may not be the behavior of youths that has changed so much as the response by adults. Only over the past 90 years did American culture come to define young adults’ continued reliance on parental guidance and their longing to return home as a sign of psychological maladjustment.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare
ince 2009, 20 states and 11 cities have designated July as Sandwich Generation Month, to recognize the dedication of Americans who are caring for their children and their own aging parents at the same time. Currently about 7 percent of employed men and women, or about 9.8 million people out of the 139.3 million employed persons in June 2011, are official members of the sandwich generation, but a much higher proportion of Americans have already experienced or will eventually experience this stressful combination of care-giving responsibilities. With the number of Americans aged 65 and older projected to increase from 40 million in 2010 to 88.5 million by 2050, the ranks of sandwich generation caregivers are poised to expand significantly.
Topics of Expertise: Child Welfare / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities)Associate Research Scientist, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Communication, Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, Professor of Medical Social Sciences Director, Center on Media and Human Development School of Communication Chair, Department of Communication Studies
