Family & Children: The Latest From New America

Kids' Share 2008

Fiscal Policy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:00:00 -0400

Children are a declining priority in the federal budget -- a trend that shows no signs of stopping. In 2007, the federal government paid out $2.7 trillion through spending programs and disbursed roughly another $1 trillion through the tax code. Rapidly expanding entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security -- and the country's defense system consumed the largest shares of the budget, while spending on children remained essentially stagnant and did not keep up with growth in the economy.

Our second annual Kids' Share report on the state of the children's budget looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and… more

How Much Does the Federal Government Spend To Promote Economic Mobility, And For Whom?

Fiscal Policy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:30:00 -0400

In an economically mobile market economy, individuals and families are able to raise their private incomes, wealth, and ability (sometimes referred to as human capital) over time and across generations. In the United States, many associate economic mobility with the pursuit of the American Dream. Education, work experience, and saving enhance the opportunity for upward economic mobility. To this end, many federal spending and tax expenditure or tax subsidy programs aim to enhance economic mobility. But exactly how much does the federal government encourage economic mobility? What form does this encouragement take? And who benefits from these efforts?

To begin answering these… more

10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB Reauthorization

Education Policy — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:00:00 -0500

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) seeks to improve student learning and narrow academic achievement gaps that place low-income and minority students at a disadvantage relative to their affluent and white peers. Evidence shows that the roots of children’s academic success or failure are already firmly in place by third grade and as much as half of the black-white achievement gap already exists before children enter first grade. Therefore, to achieve its ambitious goals NCLB must do a much better job of catalyzing and supporting state and local efforts to improve children’s education in the preschool and early elementary… more

Asset-Based Welfare Policy in the U.K.

Asset Building — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:49:00 -0500

While traditional anti-poverty efforts have focused on maintaining a social safety net to protect the poor, there is a growing recognition that economic well-being hinges on a household’s ability to accumulate a wide range of assets. The value of assets is based not only on the economic security they provide but in how they enable people to make productive investments in their future. This approach has contributed to a wide range of policy proposals designed to help households build assets, including matched savings accounts, children’s accounts, and accessible saving plans.

Since 2000, the United Kingdom has begun implementing a number… more

ASPIRE Act Frequently Asked Questions

Asset Building — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0400

The attached document answers the following questions about the America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement, and Education (ASPIRE) Act:

What does the bill do?Why is a bill to promote asset building for children necessary? Who is eligible? Will illegal immigrants or children who become citizens… more

The Stress of Balancing Work and Family

Workforce and Family — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:12:00 -0400

Executive Summary

American families confront major challenges in balancing work and family life. Workers report that they would prefer fewer hours, while new technological capabilities require parents to bring more job responsibilities home with them. Mothers and fathers encounter strain in work and home environments alike. Polling and surveillance data confirm that the balance between work and family care needs attention. Some of the most quantifiable and severe costs of this burden on families are adverse health outcomes. This paper catalogues a number of factors linked to job stress and work/family conflict: metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, poor dietary habits,… more

Why Not More Focus on Children?

Workforce and Family — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:52:00 -0400

The 2008 presidential primary season is shaping up as one unprecedented in American history. Fund-raising reports from the first two quarters of 2007 demonstrate the breakneck pace with which this latest presidential season has begun. Fund-raisers aren’t alone in setting a new pace, as state after state has moved up the date of its Presidential primary in a bid for increased influence.

What has not changed is the focus of the early primary politicking. In the past few weeks, would-be presidential candidates have been forced to answer questions on the employment status of Don Imus, whether they hunt rabbits or… more

Estimating the 'Hidden Tax' on Insured Californians Due to the Care Needed and Received by the Uninsured

adminn — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:33:00 -0400

The report released today by the Hoover Institution confirms that insured families across California pay a "hidden tax" to provide uncompensated health care to the uninsured. The existence of this "hidden tax" is no longer in dispute; what's under debate is its magnitude, which is hard to measure precisely because it is "hidden."

This memo describes the range of estimates that various experts have made, highlights some of the reasons for differing judgments, and then lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions about the reasonable range of hidden tax estimates.

For the complete Policy… more

Every Baby a Trust Fund Baby

adminn — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:05:00 -0500

Click here for a brief video discussion of this idea.

An American Stakeholder Account (ASA), established for every child at birth, would build a savings and ownership culture in America, promote financial literacy, and fortify the American economy for the long haul. Every child would automatically receive a $6,000 deposit into an ASA at birth -- and also be eligible for dollar-for-dollar matching funds for voluntary contributions up to $500 a year. Over time, ASAs will evolve into… more

How Research on Family Structure and Children's Development Can Inform Healthy Marriage Practitioners in the Field

Workforce and Family — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 -0500

Is children’s development, and children’s cognitive development in particular, affected by the marital status of their parents? On the face of it, this seems to be a simple question to which there is an intuitively simple answer: yes. Yet the answer to this question is anything but simple. The complexity of this question, the policy context that has helped shape a growing body of related research, and the implications of findings for policy and practice are discussed below. The following discussion is based on my remarks during the plenary session of Connecting Marriage Research to Practice, a conference sponsored by… more

Teacher Quality in Grades PK-3: Challenges and Options

Education Policy — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 01:00:00 -0400

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) The PK-3 Workforce is Subject to an Array of Entry Standards. Public school teachers in grades K-3 must meet the quality standards of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Pre-kindergarten (PK) teachers in Title I-funded programs also are regulated by NCLB. But Head Start teachers have their own separate entry standards. In some state PK programs, all teachers must possess a bachelor’s degree and have engaged in additional early childhood or PK-3 training. In others, only a Child Development Associate certificate is required.

2) There are Approximately 1.5 Million Teachers in the PK-3 Workforce. New America… more

Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren

Workforce and Family — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:23:00 -0400

Today nearly 5.7 million grandparents only have to walk downstairs or down the hall to celebrate Grandparents Day with their grandchildren. They are part of a growing segment of the American population that is living in multigenerational households.

With the increasing demands of a global society, Americans are looking outside the nuclear family and using extended family members to assist with household responsibilities. Grandparents are helping their children manage their hectic lives and alleviate some of the parenting burden.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version below.

Beyond Censorship

Wireless Future — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 03:47:00 -0400

As the FCC dramatically increases fines for indecency over broadcast TV -- and as Congress and the President raise the fine limits by a factor of ten and threaten to extend decency standards to cable and satellite networks -- the debate over how best to protect children from inappropriate media has reached a fever pitch. The problem is real: a plethora of studies show that repeated exposure to violence, inappropriate sexual content and even repeated advertising for junk food can have a negative, long-term impact on children. And while television is today's primary battleground, it won't be long before most… more

State Policy Options for Building Assets

Asset Building — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:49:00 -0400

States continue to play an important role in helping low- and moderate-resource families save and build wealth. They have been innovators in assets policy, whether on their own or through the forces of "devolution," in which federal funds and decision-making authority are shifting from the federal to the state level. These initiatives and experiments -- these "laboratories of democracy" -- have inspired and informed other states as well as policymakers at the national level.

The following ideas to broaden savings and asset ownership include a range of simple proposals that may have a significant impact with little associated cost; some medium… more

Valuing Fathers

Workforce and Family — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:00:00 -0400

Because of the demographic changes of the past generation, dads need more flexibility in their work. Businesses are recognizing that more fathers need flexibility in the workplace and many are giving it.

Businesses should be applauded for that and encouraged to do more in providing workplace flexibility -- and dads deserve credit for the work, balancing and the sacrifices that they make.

For the complete Issue Brief, please see the attached PDF below.

The Assets Agenda 2006

Asset Building — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 03:00:00 -0400

The purpose of this issue brief is to summarize a federal public policy agenda to broaden savings and asset ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income Americans. It reflects our latest and best thinking, and draws heavily on the work of many experts focusing on various facets of savings and asset-building policy. The menu includes calls for new structures and policies, as well as changes to existing tax systems, government programs and financial products.

We continue to share President Bush’s vision for an “ownership society,” although public policies to achieve that must be directed at the bottom half of the population, most… more

Economic Growth Finally Having its Effect on Family Wages

Workforce and Family — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0500

This week, the White House submitted its annual Economic Report of the President to Congress. It was a positive forecast driven by continuing strong consumer spending, business investment and export growth. Despite high energy prices and Hurricane Katrina, the White House had a lot of good news to trumpet on the economy from four years of largely uninterrupted economic growth.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version.

Ladders of Learning

Education Policy — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 04:00:00 -0500

It’s a good news, bad news situation. The good news is an increasing body of evidence shows that children’s participation in high quality pre-kindergarten (PK) programs helps them begin kindergarten ready to succeed. Similarly, there is growing evidence that children who start kindergarten behind but participate in a full-day kindergarten (FDK) program catch up to their peers by the end one academic year. The bad news is these effects often appear to “fade out” over time. As children move through the primary grades (grades 1, 2, and 3), the progress they made in PK and FDK dissipates and they… more

Bipartisan Solutions to Work and Family Balance Challenges

Workforce and Family — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:00:00 -0500

America is the world's most entrepreneurial nation, giving tremendous opportunities to our own citizens andattracting business leaders from around the world wholocate in the United States to realize the benefits of our dynamic labor force. Yet as recent cover stories in Businessweek and Fortune magazines indicate, American workers increasingly feel stressed about trying to balance their work and family commitments, and value working arrangements that can help them find balance.

When Americans talk about "workplace flexibility," different ideas come to mind. Employees think about flexible jobs that allow them to be productive at work while allowing them time to meet their… more

Shared Responsibility to Cover California's Children

Health Policy — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Health insurance is the gateway to health and to our health care system, yet over five million Californians are uninsured, about 800,000 of whom are children. Having health insurance facilitates access to affordable care from a network of health care providers and shields families from financial ruin in the case of a catastrophic medical emergency.

While most Californians have access to employment-based coverage, a growing number of people either work for firms that do not offer health insurance or cannot afford its rapidly increasing cost. Public programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families play a crucial role by offering health… more