Using a more comprehensive accounting than previous studies, we examined the economic impact of child support orders on residential mothers and children compared to nonresidential fathers and how that impact differed across income levels. With the inclusion of child support and other expenses associated with raising children, the well-being of…

This paper shows how household data collected for the Ghana Living Standards Survey can be used to calculate national trends in educational performance (enrollment, completion rates and literacy). The resulting enrollment figures are shown to be more reliable than the rather different picture given by official statistics. In addition, a short…

How have recent changes in U.S. family structure affected the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the nation's children? Paul Amato examines the effects of family formation on children and evaluates whether current marriage-promotion programs are likely to meet children's needs. Amato begins by investigating how children in households…

This paper investigates the real living standards and poverty status of U.S. children in the 1990s compared to the children in 17 other nations, including Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and Australia. The analysis is based on the Luxembourg Income Study database. It was found that American children have lower real spendable income than do comparable…