Migration over the U.S. southwest border in the past decade has been composed of growing numbers of undocumented and asylum-seeking families and children from Mexico and Central America, with larger increases starting in fiscal year (FY) 2017. By U.S. law, states must provide education to all children, regardless of immigration status. Yet…

The U.S. legal system gives parents the authority and responsibility to make decisions about their children's health care, and favors parental rights over society's collective responsibility to provide for children's welfare. Neither the federal government nor state governments have an affirmative obligation to protect and promote children's…

This study explores children's understanding of television commercials that feature the same primary characters as those in the adjacent program content, a commercial technique known as "host-selling." Responses of children 4 to 5 and 7 to 8 years of age to identical commercials presented in both a host-selling and normal viewing…

Used cases of democratic and non-democratic governmental systems and freedom of speech to investigate 6- to 11-year-olds' notions of political fairness and democracy. Found that political fairness concepts were applied at all ages to evaluate governmental systems and reject non-democratic alternatives. Older children were more likely than younger…

After progress towards achieving major income security goals during the 1960s and 1970s, economic slowdown and public reaction against "the welfare state" have curtailed direct intervention by the federal government for these purposes. Absolute poverty and welfare dependency have increased in the 1980s, especially among the young. Major…

This handbook is an easy-to-use reference book for policymakers, public officials, and policy analysts, as well as anyone else who may need up-to-date information about state economic, demographic, and fiscal data. The book includes data on demographics, poverty rates, per capita state personal income, state and local tax rates, and state and…