This briefing guide offers the latest data on the availability of child care and pre-K by legislative district as well as new documentation on affordability by county and median salaries for early childhood educators. Today 9 out of 10 families cannot afford quality child care. Further 4 out of 5 four-year olds outside of New York City have no…

This study contrasts the socio-economic characteristics of students enrolled at a suburban community college who graduated or transferred to a college or university with the characteristics of those students who did not persist to graduate or transfer to a four year college program. Identified characteristics that could serve as reliable…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the school-parent relationship (volunteering, outreach, and communicating) in schools differs among the poverty level of students. One hundred eighty-nine middle school parents answered a parental involvement survey. Comparisons were made between the poverty level of students (free and reduced…

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) impacts health outcomes. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), like many school-based data sources, lacks individual-level poverty information. We propose using school-level percentages of student eligibility for free/reduced-price meals (%FRPM) as a proxy for individual-level poverty. Methods: Using the New…

Although the perception of many is that internet access is now nearly ubiquitous, the reality, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is that somewhere around 30 percent of American homes still do not have it. The NTIA also reports that, while 80 percent of the households in which family income is more than…

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are long-standing policies that link cash assistance to low-income families to work effort. A new policy being tested in New York City adopts this "conditional cash transfer" principle and extends it to a broader set of family efforts to build their…

Katherine Magnuson's research focuses on the well-being and development of economically disadvantaged children and their families. In the first half of this brief Magnuson pulls together scholarship on the effects of poverty and inequality on children, especially from infancy to age five. Her scope goes beyond the social sciences to include new…

Background: Youth living in poverty face compounding familial and environmental was challenges in utilizing effective community mental health services. Ongoing stressors increase their drop-out rate in mental health service use. Difficulties also exist in staying engaged in services when involved with the child welfare system. This study examines…

Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty, was the first comprehensive CCT program in a developed country. Launched in 2007 by New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), Family Rewards offered cash assistance to low-income…

This report assesses hardship among children of immigrants nationwide and in states with large immigrant populations (California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington). Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families show that hardship is greater for children of immigrants than for the children of…

A study of 1980 Census data revealed the following about the position of Hispanics, and particularly Hispanic women, in New York State: (1) Hispanics are growing rapidly in size and political significance, with their population rising 23% in New York and 61.02% nationally; (2) the young age and high fertility rates of Hispanics guarantee that they…

There is a crisis in the black family; at its core is the inextricable linkage of low educational achievement, high unemployment levels, and limited opportunities for access to stable jobs at adequate wages. This report is directed at an examination of the causes and the consequences of this essentially economic crisis, providing a brief…