Phenomenological analysis was used to understand how rural low-income families accessed and used child-care resources to meet the needs of their families using data from Wave 1 of the Rural Families Speak Project. In the aftermath of welfare reform, results highlight the continuing need for policy aimed at building stronger supports for families…

Using data from the Survey of Adults and Youth, the authors examine the effect of economic status on youths' involvement in both school- and nonschool-related extracurricular activities. Specifically, they assess the association between four alternative measures of economic status--recipiency of food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent…

Explores whether protecting a relative advantage explains the persistence of ability grouping. Examines 435 parents' beliefs about ability grouping from three perspectives--social pressures, teacher management, and student effects. Examines income and education variables. Parents who are relatively advantaged, with higher incomes and educational…

Poverty is an important antecedent factor affecting education. One of the most striking characteristics of rural poverty is the extent to which the rural poor work. About 65% of poor nonmetro families have at least one worker, compared to 54% of poor metro families. This report focuses on federal and state policy reforms that would assure poor…

This research brief summarizes a recent report on the educational advances of the second and third generations of California's immigrants, "Educational Progress Across Immigrant Generations in California," by PPIC researchers Deborah Reed, Laura E. Hill, Christopher Jepsen, and Hans P. Johnson, shed new light on California's immigrant…

As measured by the most recent income data available from the Current Population Survey (CPS), between 1996 and 2002 median household income increased 4.7 percent more than inflation. That statistic compares a "snapshot" of households in 1996 with another "snapshot" in 2002. This report uses the most recent longitudinal data available from the…

Changes in the structure and needs of the American family are requiring changes in government and workplace policies. Discusses current policies related to day care, parental leave, work schedules, income support, and child support enforcement. Psychological research is needed to develop effective family policies. (Author/BJV)

This paper reviews research studies dealing with the effects on families of changes in the labor force patterns of working mothers during the period from 1970 to l980. Research information is presented in a column format: the first column provides the study findings, the second points out the sources of the findings, and the third suggests…

Suggests that consumptive certainty of the 1950s and 1960s gave way to economic uncertainty in the 1970s and beyond. Economic uncertainty provided impetus, legitimacy, and justification for young families to adopt new work-family arrangements. Hence, economic uncertainty is conceptualized as a real circumstance that substantiates families'…

This report examines the use of computers and the Internet by American children enrolled in nursery school and students in kindergarten through grade 12. The report examines the overall rate of use (that is, the percentage of individuals in the population who are users), the ways in which students use the technologies, where the use occurs (home,…

Noting that a central tenet of the 1996 welfare reform law was that work was the best way to improve the lives of single parents and their children, this fact sheet summarizes research on the impact of parental work on children in families receiving welfare. The fact sheet delineates key research findings from experimental studies of the effects…

Summarizes the debate on a 1969 article arguing that California's public higher education system redistributed income from lower to upper income classes. Reanalyzes the author's study of New York's state university system, concentrating on the 35-59 age cohort, to show that lower income groups received net subsidies. (RW)

This volume examines conceptual frameworks and models that flow from scholars' definitions and operationalizations of social class: status attainment theory, human capital theory, the financial nexus model, Bourdieuian theory, and critical race theory. Since students often have multiple social locations that affect their educational process, the…

This demographic overview summarizes some major findings from national surveys reported by the Census Bureau in 1990. Statistical data are drawn from the Current Population Survey, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the American Housing Survey. The following trends are reported: (1) the decline in average household size begun in…

A study to determine the number of dependent students making changes on parental adjusted gross income during the verification process is discussed. The study defined the number of dependent students who had a change in their Student Aid Index as a result of validation. (MLW)