Background: For a majority of the world's children, despite substantial increases in primary school enrollment, academic learning is neither occurring at expected rates nor supplying the basic foundational skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The significant lag in academic achievement tells us that simply making formal education…

This research brief presents some main findings from a study of employer-based support systems in the United States to help families meet their caregiving responsibilities, and focuses on the failure of existing policies to support caregiving responsibilities of low-income parents and women. The brief also presents policy alternatives to help…

Up-to-date state information on the characteristics and population size of children of immigrants is essential for planning and implementing educational, health, housing, labor, and other social programs that affect children, their families, and other residents. This brief, a companion to the Urban Institute's new interactive Children of…

Men are taking a more active role in child care. By 1991, 20% of preschool children were cared for by their fathers while their mothers worked outside the home--an increase since 1988, when only 15 percent of preschoolers were cared for by their fathers. This report summarizes the latest findings on child care arrangements of mothers who work…

This is the fourth in a series of reports from Reality Check 2006, an ongoing set of tracking surveys on education issues. Reality Check surveys attitudes among public school parents, students, teachers, principals and superintendents on a regular basis. In surveys on education, it is not uncommon for the public, parents and teachers to see…

This book offers a comprehensive history of the parent cooperative preschool movement, a unique educational system that attained its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. The book uses interviews with pioneers and current members of parent cooperatives, official documents, periodicals, and scholarly publications to offer a history that weaves the…

This report describes research undertaken to assess the attitudes of teenagers and those who most influence them--their parents, teachers, and school principals. The research attempted to identify factors that could increase or diminish the likelihood teenagers would use cigarettes, alcohol, or illegal drugs. Parents were identified as the key to…

When Canadian parents look back on their own lives and the lives of their parents, they see changes across a generation that have profoundly affected their parenting experience, compared to when they themselves were young children. Supports for today's parents must take into consideration these changes that affect the care and nurturing of…

This report was prepared because of the growing national interest in the questions of work and family dynamics. It puts together 82 key statistics on work and family issues in four major areas: child care, parental leave, alternative work schedules, and elder care. In addition, a chapter of miscellaneous statistics covers areas such as the…

Discusses recent developments in the family in West Germany. Examines family demographics; provides an overview of the main institutional forces, laws, and family policy; and refers to the organizational aspects of demography. Describes trend in Germany of shrinking household size and increasing share of one-person households. Describes statistics…

Community colleges, which tend to be more accessible and affordable than other postsecondary institutions, are a critical resource for low-income people striving to improve their prospects in the labor market and in life. Yet nearly half of students who begin at community colleges leave school before receiving a credential. Research by MDRC and…

One of the consistent findings of educational research studies is the effect of the students' family socio-economic background on their learning achievement. Consequently, international comparative studies emphasis the role of socio-economic background for determining learning outcomes. In particular, PISA results have been used to describe how…

Provides an overview of adoption statistics and describes data available regarding adoption arrangements and the characteristics of parents who relinquish children, of children who are adopted or in substitute care, and of adults who seek to adopt. Recommends the establishment of a national data collection system for adoption statistics.…

If maternal expressed emotion is an environmental risk factor for children's antisocial behavior problems, it should account for behavioral differences between siblings growing up in the same family even after genetic influences on children's behavior problems are taken into account. This hypothesis was tested in the Environmental Risk…

Noting that families need access to high quality care so that their children can start school ready to learn and so that parents can work, this report examines state child care subsidy policy choices. Following an executive summary, chapter 1 of the report discusses state policy regarding eligibility criteria related to families receiving welfare,…