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…

The economic decline of rural America has widespread consequences for families, children, and education. Broad changes in farming and in the rural nonfarm sector have pushed the poverty rate for rural areas in the 1980s higher than the central cities rate. Projections indicate that by the mid-1990s, one-half of all farm families in the midwest may…

Family life in Canada is alive and well, even though it may seem at times to be under attack. Families are changing in the functions they serve. One of the significant changes has been the increase in the number of women with paying jobs outside the home. This change has not necessarily caused families to be better off economically. Today, both…

This report presents the results of a study examining the effects of rapidly rising tuitions at the nation's "elite" private colleges and universities, and the impact on the enrollment of middle-income students. The paper traces the income background of Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) schools and shows how students from…

The moral and ethical values enunciated by America's leading religious organizations lay much of the groundwork for its major democratic institutions and establish the benchmarks by which U.S. employment conditions and policies should be measured. The public's perception of the economy's relative well-being is based on oversimplified statistical…

In recent years, more than 25 percent of potential graduates--more than one million youngsters annually--left school without graduating. The dropout rate is even higher for Blacks, Hispanics and students from families of lower socioeconomic status. Since the dropout problem is closely related to broad social issues, such as youth unemployment,…

This paper considers the following dimensions of the change in household composition of the United States population between 1960 and 1980: (1) a decrease in the number of households headed by a couple; and (2) a decrease in the number of children per household. Examination of census figures from 1960, 1970, and 1980 reveals that blacks and whites…

Focusing on problems believed to pose the greatest risk to the children of New Jersey, this report sets forth the views of the Governor's Committee on Children's Services Planning on priorities for action. After an executive summary of the report, the issues identified by the committee are summarized in chapter II, which describes the current…

Part of continuing background research on local government, this report estimates the number of children in day care in the Washington, D.C., area and supplies basic data on the role local governments in this region play in day care provision. The text consists mainly of 15 tables of data, several of which are based on interviews with local…

This is the first in a series of annual summaries that will make available detailed profiles of the ethnic, racial, male, and female populations from the Admissions Testing Program (ATP) of the College Board. This report is the most comprehensive of all ATP summary reports: It is based on the records of all high school seniors in the United States…

Preliminary data and analyses on student financial aid during 1983-1984 are presented, based on a policy seminar at which a national survey of aid recipients was examined. Evidence suggests that students, especially those from low-income backgrounds, increasingly rely on loans as a form of college financing. Financial aid participation rates among…

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to specify and investigate the determinants of parental intention through data collected from 200 parents of youths aged fifteen years. Results showed that Greek parents guide their children to follow upper secondary education rather than technical education for a number of reasons but mainly: technical…

Data from 18,385 first-time full-time students, approximately 10% of total freshmen enrolled during 1977-78 at Illinois public community colleges, who took the American College Testing Program (ACT) test showed average ACT composite scores of 16.7 and average high school grade point averages (GPA) of 2.6, compared with national norms for entering…

Presentations and critiques include these topics: determinants of college decisions; supply and demand in postsecondary education; shortcomings of models and data bases; effects of price and nonprice characteristics; and some methodoligical considerations. Discussion questions include: Is there a middle-income squeeze?; How can nonapplicants be…

Student characteristics, opinions, and projections for fall 1981 entering freshmen at the University of South Carolina (USC) were compared to national norms, based on administration of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program questionnaire of the American Council of Education. Twelve areas of interest that were selected for analysis from the…