The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) is a welfare reform initiative based on enhancing welfare recipients' incentives to get a job and requiring long-term welfare recipients to participate in employment-focused activities. The effects of the MFIP were compared to those of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program through…

The issue brief describes the research base for the National Center for Children in Poverty's (NCCP's) framework to assess welfare changes from a children's perspective and points to lessons from current and past welfare-to-work evaluations. Many changes are now implemented in welfare policies due to new legislation titled the Personal…

This report highlights recent and projected economic trends that affect higher education, focusing on national economic conditions, government support for higher education, students' ability to pay for college, and labor market trends. It found that the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), is projected to grow at a…

The issue of integrating work and family responsibilities has been the subject of federal, provincial, and territorial policy planning and several task forces in Canada. This report plus executive summary, designed to inform the dialogue and stimulate continued discussion, brings together a wide variety of work-life facts and figures related to…

This report discusses findings from the Current Population Survey of 1998 that found Americans with disabilities are less than half as likely as their counterparts to own a computer, and they are about one-quarter as likely to use the Internet. Others findings indicate: (1) among persons 65 years of age or older, only one-tenth of those with…

This Kids Count report assembles some of the indicators that describe the economic environment of Minnesota children and families. The report is intended to serve as a resource for policymakers at the city, county, and state levels, as well as community advocates, parents, and those who work with children. Section 1 of the report presents…

Public education in Ireland is under the control of three different boards--the Commissioners of National Education, established in 1845 and which has charge of the elementary public school system; the Intermediate Board of Commissioners, established in 1878 and which controls a large number of secondary schools; and the Department of Agriculture…

In response to Lee Hansen and Burton Weisbrod's study conducted over a decade ago, California policy has attempted to shift a greater portion of the burden of support for higher education from lower income families. A recent reexamination of the study by Joseph McGuire that disputes the original study is challenged. (JMD)

This study tested whether increased monetary support for education directly affected student achievement, examining the impact on reading achievement of increased financial contributions to South Carolina's public schools. State aid, district wealth, local expenditures, and administration allocations negatively impacted achievement. District…

Examines the family background and late childhood factors that influence the educational attainment of young Latino men. Findings from 419 Latino adolescents include the observation that family background and resources, namely father's income and education, number of siblings, educational resources in the home, and national origin, have a strong…

Studies whether mothers of preschool-aged children use market child care versus care by relatives to assess the importance of economics versus preferences. Suggests employed mothers turn to relatives for child care partly out of preference, not just because relatives are inexpensive. Employed mothers have different views than unemployed mothers.…

This study found that students who use college rankings are more likely to earn top grades, come from wealthy families, and be Asian-American than any other ethnic group. The survey (n=221,897 students at 432 colleges) found that only 11% of respondents saw rankings as a very important factor in college choice; 60% found them "not at…

Elasticities generated from ecological regressions indicate a Black disadvantage, relative to Hispanics and Asians, in converting education and income into desirable residential outcomes in their neighborhoods. However, differences were less than those found in previous studies and those inferred from levels of segregation. Education was critical…

A study of college affordability compared changes in family income, Pell grants, Stafford loans, and state grants with changes in the average costs of public two- and four-year colleges. It concluded that both sectors became more affordable to low- and middle-income families in the 1970s but less affordable in the 1980s. (Author/DB)

Used longitudinal data from a sample of African-American children of teenaged mothers in the Baltimore, Maryland, area to examine determinants of functional literacy in adulthood. Found that preschool cognitive and behavioral functioning predicted literacy in young adulthood. Family environmental factors that predicted literacy in young adulthood…