This article provides a highlight of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report published in 1965 titled "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action." Despite government programs like the War on Poverty, Moynihan reported "the circumstances of the Negro American community was getting worse, not better." Moynihan, believed that…

More than half of poor African American infants are born into "fragile families" and nearly half grow up in single-mother families with little or no father involvement. However, most prenatal interventions fail to help unmarried mothers talk and plan together with their baby's father, especially when fathers are nonresidential. This…

American families and workplaces have both changed dramatically over the past half-century. Paid work by women has increased sharply, as has family instability. Education-related inequality in work hours and income has grown. These changes, says Suzanne Bianchi, pose differing work-life issues for parents at different points along the income…

As nonmarital childbearing escalated in the United States over the past half century, fragile families--defined as unmarried couples with children--drew increased interest from researchers and policy makers. Sara McLanahan and Audrey Beck discuss four aspects of parental relationships in these families: the quality of parents' intimate…

This report presents data on single parent families, focusing on the child support income that custodial parents reported receiving during the calendar year prior to the survey as well as other support provided, such as health insurance and non-cash support for children up to age 21 years. Data came from the April 2000 supplement to the Current…

Asserts that instead of putting children at risk through more costly and politically problematic child support enforcement strategies, policymakers should reinforce rather than undermine the social ideal of marriage. Discusses the logic of shotgun weddings, the results of no-fault divorces, punishment of innocent fathers by harsh child support…

Increasing the probability of paying child support, in addition to increasing resources available for investment in children, also may alter the incentives faced by men to have children out of wedlock. We find that strengthening child support enforcement leads men to have fewer out-of-wedlock births and among those who do become fathers, to do so…

The Carolina Institute for Research on Early Education for the Handicapped is conducting three studies on needs of parents of moderately and severely handicapped children (birth to 5 years). Studies focus on support in single and two-parent families, parental attention to child competence and family variables affected by intervention. (Author/CL)

Describes elements of Sweden's child support system, such as provisions relating to eligibility, benefits, absent parent liability, enforcement and financing. Analyzes the role of child support in the broader context of other kinds of aid to single-parent families. Considers prospects for child support reform in the United States. (Author)

The first in a two-part series on male college student development looks at a significant issue for many young men, lack of relationship with a father, and its effect on their journey to manhood. Specific recommendations are made for adults working effectively with young adult men in this context, and areas for further study are highlighted. (MSE)

Health educators can play a vital role in helping provide emotional and social support for single fathers, in helping prepare their children for parent roles, and in educating the community about needs of these parents. Special characteristics and needs of single-father families are discussed. (PP)

Noting that although families have always been characterized by change, there is strong evidence that they are changing faster today than ever before. This book focuses on the changing roles of mothers, fathers, and children, emphasizing how fathers and mothers meet parental responsibilities and what children have a right to expect from their…

This KIDS COUNT special report focuses on the state of Arkansas' families, using state and national data to discuss demographic and economic changes facing families and the ways those changes affect children. The report discusses the increase in the number of children nationally and statewide growing up in homes without fathers, and notes that the…

Past research on African American single mothers and their families has been conducted using conventional paradigms based upon models of the dominant culture. This practice has resulted in the creation of stereotypes and misconceptions about "the Black family." In this collection of original work by an interdisciplinary group of…

Annual reports, project descriptions, and various other materials are provided for 35 projects. Most of the projects focus on homemaking; some are on sex equity. Project titles include: Single Parent/Adult Homemaker Reentry Program (Ashland Community College); Career Awareness Class for the Single Parent and/or Homemaker (Cumberland Valley Health…