From the Databank (Pew Research Center):
http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=1161
A related link is:
The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families
November 18, 2010
Link to Full Report
Archive for the 'Family, Fertility & Children' Category
Page 4 of 12
The 2010 Brown Center Report on American Education
By: Tom Loveless
Source: The Brookings Institute
From the introduction:
This edition of the Brown Center Report marks the tenth issue of the series and the final issue of Volume II. The publication began in 2000 with Bill Clinton in the White House and the Bush-Gore presidential campaign building toward its dramatic conclusion. That first report was organized in a three-part structure that all subsequent Brown Center Reports followed. Part I presents the latest results from state, national, or international assessments and alerts readers to important trends in the data. Part II explores an education issue in depth, sometimes by investigating different sources of empirical evidence than previous research, sometimes by posing a conventional question in an unconventional way. Part III analyzes a current or impending question regarding education policy. In all three sections, the studies strive to ask clear questions, gather the best available evidence, and present findings in a nonpartisan, jargon-free manner.
Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report, 2010
Source: UNICEF
Achieving an AIDS-free generation is possible if the international community steps up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, and social protection, according to “Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report 2010,” which was released today in New York. Attaining this goal, however, depends on reaching the most marginalized members of society.
While children in general have benefited enormously from the substantial progress made in the AIDS responses, there are millions of women and children who have fallen through the cracks due to inequities rooted in gender, economic status, geographical location, education level and social status. Lifting these barriers is crucial to universal access to knowledge, care, protection, and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) for all women and children.
Adolescent Obesity in the United States: Facts for Policymakers
Susan Wile Schwarz and Jason Peterson
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Abstract:
Adolescent obesity in the United States has many important implications for both the health and well-being of the individual and society. Specific negative impacts of obesity on health include increased susceptibility to a host of diseases, chronic health disorders, psychological disorders, and premature death, which in turn add billions of dollars in health care costs each year. Excess medical costs due to overweight adolescents are estimated at more than $14 billion per year.3 Furthermore, adolescent obesity affects our nation’s ability to protect itself; more than a quarter of 17- to 24-year-olds are not fit to enroll in the military due to their weight.
Adolescence is a crucial period for establishing healthy behaviors. Many of the habits formed during this developmental stage will last well into adulthood.5 Although obesity is a complex problem not yet fully understood by researchers, by addressing the known factors that contribute to obesity in adolescence, policymakers can help ensure a healthy and productive adulthood for our nation’s youth.
Obesity and poor nutrition – combined with mental health disorders and emotional problems, violence and unintentional injury, substance use, and reproductive health problems – form part of a complex web of potential challenges to adolescents’ healthy emotional and physical development.
United Nations World Youth Report. Youth and Climate Change.
Source: United Nations Programme on Youth
From the introduction:
Climate change is one of the defining challenges of the twenty-first century. It is a challenge that is global in both its impact and its solutions but one that is not shared equally, as developing countries are likely to be among the most seriously affected by and the least able to address the consequences of climate change. Climate change touches every aspect of life and impinges on development efforts, with consequences ranging from immediate to long term. Major adjustments are required to promote more sustainable patterns of production and consumption at both the collective and individual levels. Solid evidence exists that climate change will have a more serious impact than initially anticipated and that adaptation and mitigation will entail significantly higher costs if action is deferred than if the problem is addressed now.
Addressing and adjusting to the challenge of climate change is certain to be a defining feature of the future of today’s youth. It is therefore critical that young people educate themselves and become more actively involved in combating this threat. The present Report is designed to assist youth and youth organizations in such an endeavour. It is also meant to affirm the status of young people as key stakeholders in the fight against climate change. The publication comes at a time when efforts to address climate change are receiving unparalleled attention in the international arena, offering youth a unique opportunity for their voice to be heard in the debate.
Children of Immigrants: Economic Well-Being
By: Ajay Chaudry and Karina Fortuny
Source: Urban Institute
Abstract
This data brief is the fourth in a series that profiles children of immigrants using up-to-date census data and other sources. The first brief highlighted the fast growth of the immigrant population and important demographic trends. The second described the family circumstances of children of immigrants, and the third highlighted the circumstances of young children age 0 to 8. The current brief focuses on immigrant families’ incomes, economic well-being, food insecurity, and use of public benefits.
The State of Our Unions
Source: National Marriage Project/Center for Marriage and Families
The State of Our Unions monitors the current health of marriage and family life in America. Produced annually, it is a joint publication of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values.
Social Indicators of Marital Health and Well-being:
Marriage
Divorce
Unmarried cohabitation
Loss of child centeredness
Fragile families with children
Teen attitudes about marriage and family
Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 18
By: Michelle Chau, Kalyani Thampi, and Vanessa R. Wight
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty
Children represent 25 percent of the population. Yet, they comprise 36 percent of all people in poverty. Among children, 42 percent live in low-income families and approximately one in every five live in poor families. Winding up in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. There are significant factors related to children’s experiences with economic insecurity, such as race/ethnicity and parents’ education and employment. This fact sheet describes the demographic, socio-economic, and geographic characteristics of children and their parents – highlighting the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children from their less disadvantaged counterparts.
For comparable information about infants and toddlers, see Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 3, or about young children, see Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 6 and Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Aged 6 through 11, or about adolescent children, see Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Aged 12 through 17.
Family Change and Time Allocation in American Families
By: Suzanne M. Bianchi
Source: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation/Focus on Workplace Flexibility
Abstract:
In this paper, I briefly discuss family demographic changes. Then I use the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the historical time diary studies in the U.S. to document trends in parents’ time spent in paid work, housework and childcare. I also describe the activities parents forego in order to meet work and family demands. Finally, I discuss time devoted to adult care and help given to adult children, elderly parents, and friends later in the life course.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center has been updated to include poverty data from the 2009 American Community Survey that was released on September 28 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Data Center for the first time breaks down child poverty rates by congressional district, highlighting those with the highest and lowest percent of children living below the poverty line. To see how all 435 districts ranked, visit the Data Center.