The correlation between a noncustodial father and child poverty suggests that father involvement and support are critical pieces of the puzzle for reducing child poverty. Regular child support provides an income supplement to families leaving welfare and can prevent families' initial descent into poverty. This issue brief is intended to introduce…

Most Americans expect the nation's colleges and universities to promote the goal of social mobility to make it possible for anyone with ability and motivation to succeed. But according to Robert Haveman and Timothy Smeeding, income-related gaps both in access to and in success in higher education are large and growing. In the top-tier colleges and…

Children from low-income families are more likely than other children to have serious health problems. And, as Anne Case and Christina Paxson show, childhood health problems can prevent poor children from achieving economic success as adults. Income-related disparities in childhood health are evident at birth or even before, and the disparities…

Comparing Hmong families with other ethnic or cultural groups (whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, and other Asians), this study examined family-related supports and risks in a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of 242 children entering kindergarten in St. Paul, Minnesota. All kindergarten children from 23 kindergartens in 6 elementary…

This study examines characteristics of Hispanic females in single- and dual-headed households in an effort to understand the impact of the feminization of poverty on Hispanic Americans of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican origin. The following aspects of these women are examined: (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) language of interview; (3)…

In the 1980s California poverty rates increased dramatically. Poverty rates were substantially higher in rural areas and for Hispanics, Asians, single-parent families, and children. The percentage of the labor force in poverty increased, and poverty rates were exceptionally high for the unemployed and for "discouraged workers." The…

Continuing erosion of the structure of low-income families perpetuates a vicious cycle of moral and economic troubles--poverty, drug and alcohol dependency, out-of-wedlock births, child and spouse abuse, juvenile delinquency, and crime--that feed on and create more impaired families. Accordingly, this report contends that the major portion of the…

Recent studies indicate that single mothers experience unusually high levels of psychological distress. The purpose of this paper is to compare rival explanations for these high levels. Four hypotheses are tested: (1) the psychological well-being of single mothers, relative to married parents, declines over time; (2) changes in psychological…

The U.S. Bureau of the Census records how much all families and persons in the nation receive. This is done to provide a systematic measure of our economic standing as a people. The bureau makes its record in two ways. First, every 10 years in the census, people are asked how much income they received in the year before Census Day which came on…

This first of two volumes presents an investigation of the determinants of the level of family economic well-being and of its changes over time. Both overall well-being and some of its principal components -- family size and composition, earnings, labor force participation, transfer income, income instability, and educational attainment -- are the…

This report examines the financial needs of Arkansas families, and establishes, using conservative economic assumptions, an annual Family Income Standard (FIS) for the state and each of its counties. The FIS is a new tool to be used by citizens, state and local policy makers, civic organizations, non-profits, and parents as they look to improve…

Examines the effects of a negative income tax on school-enrollment and labor-supply decisions of urban Black teenagers. Results support the contention that the negative income tax would enable more teenagers to complete high school and postpone entry into the labor force. Theoretical considerations and empirical results are analyzed. (MF)

Changes in students' participation in higher education and in the federal aid they received are examined for 1969, 1974, and 1981 in order to relate the pattern of federal student aid disbursements to changes in the enrollment patterns among selected student groups. The following federal aid programs are examined: Pell Grants (Basic Educational…

This document provides an overview of the distribution of minority groups across the economic class structure, examines the concept of a separate underclass, and assesses the potential of strategies based on residential and job mobility for improving the prospects of each of the different classes. A racial comparison of all urban households on the…

Testimonies are presented from U.S. Senate hearings on the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program (Pell grant program) for the 1982-1983 academic year. The proposed schedule is tied to an expected appropriation of $2.187 billion for Pell grants for fiscal year 1982. The administration's alternative involving no statutory changes would require…