This report provides a statistical profile of child and family well-being in Illinois, on a county-by-county basis, considering education, health, special needs, economic security, and urban and rural concerns. Comparisons of statewide data to those for neighboring states are also included. In education, information is presented on spending per…

Noting that the preceding two decades have seen a dramatic growth in the proportion of families that are headed by women, this book explores the causes and implications of this development. The book bring together information on the past and present prevalence of mother-headed families in different countries. It then considers the various…

Changes in the face of school-age America have profound implications for educational policy. As of 1990, 1 of 6 children lived in poverty, and a growing number were from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, more than one in six of the nation's third graders changed schools frequently. This mobility is just one aspect of changing…

In this document, a "two-generation program" is defined as a program "that addresses the developmental needs of children within a family support context." The rationale for Head Start as a two-generation program that includes, but goes beyond, the boundaries of the welfare reform strategy, is explored. Major program goals…

Researchers in South Carolina set up a study and a measurement instrument to determine the powerlessness/alienation phenomenon among rural limited-resource people. They established a control group and an experimental group of black and white residents of six small South Carolina communities. With the control group, they conducted a traditional…

This series of newspaper articles evaluates North Carolina's schools and establishes a relationship between the state's rural poverty and low student achievement levels. Test scores in 1988 are consistently low in all but four of the poorest rural counties. Small schools are disappearing from rural areas. Large schools can offer students more…

The economic decline of rural America has widespread consequences for families, children, and education. Broad changes in farming and in the rural nonfarm sector have pushed the poverty rate for rural areas in the 1980s higher than the central cities rate. Projections indicate that by the mid-1990s, one-half of all farm families in the midwest may…

Statistics are presented for eight measures of child and adolescent health, education, and social and economic well-being in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Indicators measured were: (1) percent low birth weight babies; (2) infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births); (3) child death rate ages 1-14 (per 100,000 children); (4)…

A study of a random sample of 220 male inmates at New York State's Sing Sing Correctional Facility was conducted in the summer of 1989. Questionnaires were distributed directly to the inmates. A questionnaire in Spanish was administered when appropriate. It was found that 79 percent were high school dropouts, including 78 percent of the black…

The moral and ethical values enunciated by America's leading religious organizations lay much of the groundwork for its major democratic institutions and establish the benchmarks by which U.S. employment conditions and policies should be measured. The public's perception of the economy's relative well-being is based on oversimplified statistical…

This document presents quantitative data on Canadian children from birth through 14 years of age. The information is drawn from readily available federal government sources. The overview provided is not intended to be comprehensive and while many subjects are addressed, the amount of information varies for each topic. The variation does not relate…

One in a series of booklets whose purpose is to stimulate greater and more effective understanding of world affairs among Americans, this five-chapter report explores Africa's attempts to lay the developmental foundations of a prosperous, modern economy shaped and molded to the cultural norms of the African people. Four central points addressed…

Problems regarding the aged in developing nations are examined. The aging of populations is now a global phenomenon, with crucial implications for the developing as well as the developed nations. Six articles are presented: "Introduction, Perspectives on Aging in the Third World" (Jay Sokolovsky), "What Can the Industrial World…

The Domestic Task Force of the House Select Committee on Hunger met to hear testimony on women and hunger in Appalachia and on food assistance programs and legislation, including H.R. 2100, the 1985 farm bill. Introductory remarks by task force members outline the bill's food assistance provisions, which include increased funding for food stamp…

This paper examines the distribution of economic well-being from 1980 to 1984, and compares economic changes during that period with those of other periods. The following indicators of economic change are used: (1) money income consistent with a Census definition; (2) money income net of direct taxes--i.e., disposable income; and (3) disposable…