Workforce and Family Program: Publications, Events and More

The Winner of New America Foundation's "Improving the Lives of Children" Essay Contest Will Receive $1000 on May 27

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:05:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. -- On May 27, the New America Foundation will announce the winner of its inaugural "Improving the Lives of Children" essay contest during a big check ceremony at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. The winner will receive a $1,000 award for college. Victor Reinoso, DC's Deputy Mayor for Education, will help present the award to the winning student. The contest's ten finalists receive recognition and the winning essay will be posted on New America's website www.newamerica.net.

According to David Gray, Director of the Workforce and Family Program at the New America Foundation, "The goal of the 'Improving… more

Trends in the Well Being of Younger Children

Communications — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/25/2008 - 10:00am

How are the kids doing? Pretty well, according to a new report unveiled at the New America Foundation on April 25th, but experts still have significant concerns about the future. The report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," was authored by Dr. Kenneth Land of Duke University and funded by the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) and is part of an on-going series of events and reports hosted by the New America Foundation designed to raise awareness about the status of children in the United States and spur meaningful action to improve their quality of life. The CWI seeks to measure the well-being of the “whole child,” using seven different quality-of-life indicators: economic well-being, social relationships, health, safety and behavior, education, community connectedness, and emotional/spiritual well-being. This Special Focus Report investigated trends in well-being along three distinct periods in children’s lives: infancy/early childhood, middle childhood (ages 6-11) and adolescence during the years 1994 – 2006. Fasaha Traylor of the Foundation for Childhood Development said that the groundbreaking work of the Child Well-Being Index Project is “fundamental to the nation’s well being.”

Dr. Land, the CWI Project coordinator, said the data reveals good news on several fronts: child mortality rates are down since 1994, as are the numbers of children with elevated lead levels in their blood and the number of mothers who smoke during pregnancy. More kids are enrolled in full-day kindergarten, which may contribute to the better performance of 9 year olds on reading tests. More kids are participating in extra-curricular activities, especially school-related lessons. Children overall are safer and fewer report that they fear being attacked while in school or on their way to and from school.

Amid the good news, however, there are some red flags. The study shows a 12.3 percent increase in the number of low birth weight babies. The number of children and toddlers who are overweight is up sharply, increasing their risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Sara Mead, senior fellow in the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, added that while number of children in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs has grown impressively since 1994, the overall preschool enrollment has decreased slightly. She added that difficult economic circumstances, which affect children’s families directly, can also put pressure on states’ fiscally strained early childhood programs.

Public opinion polls show overwhelming support for federal and state policies that promote child well being, but most child-focused programs at the federal level have seen declining programmatic funds in recent, said Bruce Lesley of First Focus. Mr. Lesley quoted heavily from a new report recently released by First Focus called “Children’s Budget 2008.” Valerie Kaufmann, who directs early childhood programs for the Maryland State Department of Education, described the programs Maryland developed in recent years to successfully boost infant health and school readiness. Lauren Ratner, who oversees Family and Community Health for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, gave a broader view of the inter-agency efforts underway at the state level to improve child health and academic performance. Ms. Ratner highlighted a variety of policy options available to and used by state legislatures and health officials to combat child health risks, such as those highlighted in the report.

Dr. Land closed the event with a note of caution. Just as the CWI indicators dropped during the 2001 economic downturn, he expects that they will decrease again in 2007 and 2008, as economic hardship once again puts pressure on families and the well-being of America’s youngest citizens.

-Christina Satkowski, Research Associate for Education Policy

Child Well-Being Index in Washington Post | For Children, a Better Beginning

Communications — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:32:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Washington Post | For Children, a Better Beginning

In a wide-ranging look at how children have fared in their first decade of life, a study to be released today offers a promising picture of American childhood: Sixth-graders feel safer at school.* Reading and math scores are up for 9-year-olds. More preschoolers are vaccinated. Fewer are poisoned by lead.

The analysis, which created a composite index of more than 25 key national indicators, reports an almost 10 percent boost in children's well-being from 1994 to 2006. This overall improvement comes in spite of two significant negative trends: increased rates of childhood obesity and low-birth-weight babies.

"There are some really encouraging signs of progress," said Ruby Takanishi, president of the nonprofit Foundation for Child Development, which funded the research. "I think it's important as a country . . . to see that there are things that parents can do, that government can do, that institutions can do, to make measurable differences for children." . . .

*The New America Foundation Workforce and Family Program convened an event for the release of the study by FCD. More information is linked here.

Foundation for Child Development Study in Reuters | Obesity and Low Birthweight Mar Health of Kids

Communications — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:59:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Reuters | Obesity and Low Birthweight Mar Health of Kids

Rising obesity rates and a large percentage of children born with low birthweights are dragging down the overall health of American children in their first decade of life, according to a report tracking the health and well-being of young children in the United States.*

While U.S. children overall have seen improvements in their well-being in recent years, American children aged 6 to 11 are four times more likely to be obese than similarly aged children in the 1960s, the report found.

The report, led by researchers at Duke University in North Carolina and the Foundation for Child Development, a private advocacy group, looked at the well-being of children in early childhood, those from birth to age five, and middle childhood, or those aged 6 to 11, from 1994 to 2006.

The researchers found obesity among children in middle childhood is nearly four times more common than in children of the same age in a national survey in 1960s. For children aged 2 to 5, it is three times higher. . .

*The New America Foundation Workforce and Family Program convened an event for the release of the report by the Foundation for Child Development.

Child Well-Being Index Special Focus Report

Workforce and Family — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:08:00 -0400

The Foundation for Child Development has initiated the development of the first comprehensive report on the overall health, education, well-being and quality of life of America's youngest children -- from birth through eleven years old. The Special Focus Report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," will be released on April 25 at the New America Foundation. The report presents the first wide-ranging picture of how children in their first decade of life are faring in the United States, and is the first to track and compare child well-being across three primary stages of development -- early childhood,… more

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Child Well-Being

Communications — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:30:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/29/2008 - 10:30am

Parents and policy makers have long looked to close the educational, health, economic and other gaps in child well-being between children of different backgrounds. As the 2008 campaign heats up, many are wondering about the increasingly diverse generation of America’s children and asking: Where is policy helping and failing to close the gaps between children of different backgrounds? Where do the gaps currently exist? What changes could have the greatest impact?

On January 29th, we released a report detailing some surprising results about the true state of the disparities between children. This new report is the first to analyze trends in the well-being of black, Hispanic, and white children over a nearly two-decade span.

At the New America event, hosted by the Workforce and Family Program, Dr. Donald Hernandez of the University of Albany presented the results of his new study. Among the key findings:

Black, Hispanic, and white children experienced overall improvements in the quality of life.
Both black children and Hispanic children were advantaged compared to white children in the emotional/spiritual well-being domain.
Black and Hispanic children also benefited from advances in the safety-behavioral domain, including reduced cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and use of illicit drugs.
Gaps in family economic well-being narrowed for both black and Hispanic children as parental employment and health insurance coverage increased.

According to Dr. Hernandez’ research, gaps in the well-being of our children are not intractable. Pending the pace of progress, racial and ethnic gaps in child well-being could be closed in as little as 18 years, in more than 50 years, or not at all. Dr. Hernandez used this finding to emphasize that progress is in no way guaranteed, and that the well-being of children must remain an issue at the fore of our consciousness.

Following the presentation of the report, Rev. David Gray moderated a distinguished panel of experts in a discussion that explored the survey results and implications.

Ms. Melissa Pardue, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave an in-depth overview of the child-focused programs run by HHS. She focused specifically on the TANF program and the changes in child well-being since the enactment of welfare reform legislation. Other areas where she cited progress include the increasing number of children served in Head Start since the mid-1990’s and the large increase in State-funded pre-Kindergarten programs. Ms. Pardue also expressed the Department’s pleasure at the continuing drop in teen birth rates since the early 1990’s and improvements in the Child Welfare system, including an increase in the adoption rate for Hispanic children in foster care.

Ms. Miriam Calderon, Associate Director of the Policy Analysis Center at the National Council of La Raza emphasized the growing population of Hispanic and black children, noting that America will become a “majority minority” country in the future. A major issue for all children is the potential for economic downturn, as many issues of child well-being are clearly related to family economic status. In addition, Ms. Calderon pointed out NCLR’s commitment to working on issues of immigration, including the challenges faced by citizen children with non-citizen parents. A looming issue for many children whose parents do not speak English is the coming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind and its programs directed at English Language-Learners.

Dr. Joseph Youngblood, Director of the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy at Thomas Edison State College brought a state-wide perspective to the discussion, focused on New Jersey, one of the most populous and diverse states in the nation. Dr. Youngblood talked about a vision of education and services for children that is multi-generational, multi-institutional, and focused on the whole family. He emphasized the need to raise expectations and create the conditions necessary for success in the educational field. Through his experience with the Abbott districts and education in general in New Jersey, Dr. Youngblood talked about the need for teachers to be both of high quality and possessing of cultural competencies that will allow them to effectively reach and teach their students. He also emphasized the need for federal policy to be effectively communicated to and connected with local decision-making units, especially mayors, as they control many of the levers of power needed to create positive change at the local level.

Julia Isaacs, Child and Family Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution presented results from her recent study on economic mobility across generations of Americans. Her findings show that, in general, two of three Americans do better economically than their parents. However, much of this growth in recent decades has been due to women entering the workforce, and that these gains have generally not manifested themselves among African-Americans. Ms. Isaacs entire study is available at the Brookings Institution’s website. As a policy matter, Ms. Isaacs highlighted the importance of high-quality pre-Kindergarten and education generally.

The presentations of the panelists were followed by a lively question and answer session with the audience that covered a wide variety of topics and engendered some excellent discussions among the panelists. To view this discussion, please click on the video at right.

Child Well-Being Index in USA Today | 'Report: Black, Hispanic Children Making Gains'

Communications — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:03:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Report: Black, Hispanic Children Making Gains (USA Today)

Black and Hispanic children have made significant gains in health, safety and income over the past two decades, narrowing gaps between them and white children, according to a pioneering report on child development to be released Tuesday.*

They still fare worse overall than whites, but they're catching up in several areas and are less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, abuse drugs or commit suicide, according to the report. It was sponsored by the Foundation for Child Development, a philanthropy that funds research on children.

"There's a long way to go, but this is an enormous closing of the gap," says co-author Donald Hernandez, a sociology professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He says the overall gap between black and white children closed by one-fourth, and between Hispanics and whites by one-third. "That's stunning. I was frankly surprised by the extent of it."

The report evaluates how children fared from 1985 to 2004, based on 28 measures of income, education, health, safety, social relationships and community involvement. It combines them for a score known as a child well-being index. It found that children, especially minorities, fared worse in the 1980s but made significant gains in the mid- to late 1990s. more

*New America Foundation Workforce and Family Program convened the event for the release of the report.

Testimony on the Pre-K for All DC Amendment Act of 2007

Education Policy — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:27:00 -0500

America’s Changing Social Contract

adminn — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
12/03/2007 - 9:00am

Despite the sustained economic growth of recent years, Americans are increasingly concerned with economic security. Even before economists began reporting signs of recession, skyrocketing health care costs, faltering pensions, and burgeoning inequality frayed the fabric of the American social contract. America's social contract is an evolving, complex web of legal and informal relationships between households, employers, government, and civil society that extends beyond particular federal programs. Now is the time to strike a new bargain between these sectors, rethinking the rights and responsibilities of each. Breathing new life into the American social contract is needed to keep pace with our 21st century economy and build the conditions for sustained growth and healthy families.

On Dec. 3, the New America Foundation convened 200 guests at the Mayflower Hotel to explore the intellectual framework of the next social contract. Andy Stern, President of the SEIU, and Carl Camden, CEO of Kelly Services, began the conversation by outlining the promise and the challenges that this coming social contract will encounter. Speaking from the divergent sectors of labor, business and the growing contingent workforce, both leaders issued bold calls for reform and reflected on the turbulent economic challenges that the America social contract faces. Mr. Stern addressed the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers, particularly the important realms of pensions and health care. Mr. Camden offered the perspective of the millions of American temporary and freelance workers and comment on the promise and innovation of flexible, citizen-based benefits.

In response to these opening remarks was a panel discussion to further hash out the rights and responsibilities of employers. Michael Calabrese, Joe Minarik, Donna Klein, and Thomas Kochan addressed the particular responsibilities such as child care and workplace flexibility, the importance of wages and benefits providing for basic economic security, and their potential burden on the global economic competitiveness of American firms.

Next, Brian Gallagher and Diana Aviv offered their perspective on the role of civil society, in a discussion moderated by Michael Lipsky. They focused on the key issues of shared responsibility, wealth, and philanthropy in the social contract. It is important for the social contract to provide certain goods outside of the purview of government, and panel clarified the role of civil society in performing this task.

During a lunchtime conversation, Michael Lind offered a global view of the social contract and how it evolves over time. Mr. Lind articulated the logic of one of the next social contract’s bedrock principles: that the grand bargain between citizens be citizen-based.

Mark Schmitt led a panel on the role of government, including Jacob Hacker, Karen Kornbluh, William Galston, and Reihan Salam. They discussed the government’s role in providing economic security to citizens, the increasing risk and uncertainty that Americans families face, and how confronting these challenges with the language of the social contract can transform our politics.

Finally, David Gray, along with a panel of Jane Waldfogel, Phil Longman, Kelleen Kaye, and Christine Kim discussed the role of the family in the social contract. Changes in the workforce and demography create challenges for government and business to help families balance work and life. Together, the panelists discussed what the status of the two-parent family is in America, what challenges young adult parents face, and where family formation and choices in child rearing intersect with policy.

The event agenda can be found below. Video of the first half of this all-day event is available at right; the afternoon sessions can be viewed by clicking here. An MP3 audio recording of the complete event can be played below, or downloaded via this link.

The Next Social Contract Initiative aims to reinvent American social policy for the twenty-first century. Through a program of research and public education, the initiative will explore the origins of our modern social contract, articulate the guiding principles for constructing a new contract, and advance a set of promising policy reforms. To learn more about this initiative, please click here.

Sara Mead Featured in Education Week on 10 Ways to Tweak NCLB

Communications — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:47:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Spend Unused NCLB's Tutoring Funds on PreK, Mead Says

Yesterday at the New America Foundation, Sara Mead released a list of 10 ways NCLB could be tweaked to bolster prekindergarten programs. In a panel discussion, which I moderated, she highlighted three items:

Require districts to use their unspent money for tutoring and choice on preK in schools that are in need of improvement;
Allow schools required to restructure to transform into "early education academies" serving preK-3; and
Expand Reading First so districts can use the money for preK literacy.

The ideas aren't meant to be a comprehensive preK agenda, Mead said. They can be "a bridge to get to places that people want to go to get a greater federal investment," she said. ...

For the complete story, please follow this link. Audio from the panel discussion is available here.

New America Releases Two Reports on No Child Left Behind and Federal Education Funding

Jerry Irvine — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:00:00 -0500

The New America Foundation released two reports today on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reauthorization and the pending federal education budget. The reports identify steps Congress may choose to pursue in expanding early childhood education and eliminate a budget “gimmick” utilized by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to fund next year’s education program before a full federal budget is created. The reports were released today at an event held at the New America Foundation attended by leading experts on NCLB and federal education policy.

10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB ReauthorizationSara Mead is a… 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

Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century

Communications — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:30:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/28/2007 - 12:30pm

First published in 1907, Walter Rauschenbusch’s Christianity and the Social Crisis became one of the most influential religious documents of the 20th century, in inspiring leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Reinhold Niebuhr and Desmond Tutu towards promoting social justice. On the 100th anniversary of the publication of this seminal work, Rauschenbusch’s great-grandson has released an updated version that includes new commentary by leading social justice thinkers of our time.

Rev. Paul Rauschenbusch, a pastor and social justice advocate, has been touring the country and has an important perspective on the state of inequality in America and the role of faith in the 2008 Presidential campaign. Please join the New America Foundation for an intriguing look at the role of faith in politics and social justice.

Continuing the Investment

adminn — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:58:00 -0500

Deep Creek Elementary School is an education success story. In 2001, Deep Creek, where more than three-quarters of students come from low-income families and 80 percent are black or Hispanic, was one of the worst elementary schools in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its third-graders were reading at a first-grade level. But the new principal, Anissa Brown Dennis, expanded collaboration and professional development for teachers, implemented an aligned reading and math curriculum from pre-K through third grade, and offered summer learning and after-school programs for struggling students. Today, nearly three-quarters of Deep Creek students read on grade level, teacher and student morale… more

The Politics of Parental Leave

Communications — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:30:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/15/2007 - 12:30pm

U.S. political candidates are beginning to produce work and family policy positions in response to what most Americans feel -- that work and family balance is a major issue facing American families. Women in particular struggle with such balance and with achieving equality in the workplace. From the floors of Congress to the campaign trails Mandating paid parental leave has often been suggested as a possible solution to such struggles. But is this approach best for women as a whole?

To further this debate, Rev. David Gray, director of the Work Force and Family Program at New America Foundation welcomed Dr. Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council for a timely discussion of the politics of parental leave.

Dr. Yoest presented research from her time as the Project Director of the Family, Gender, and Tenure research project at the University of Virginia, which focused on the effectiveness of paid parental leave in academia.

For Dr. Yoest, academia was “crucial case,” to assess whether paid parental leave could really level the playing field for women. “If there’s going to be any place in America where you’d expect paid leave to work, it would be in academia,” she said.

Dr. Yoest’s research centered on a survey of assistant professors with children under the age of two in tenure track positions at universities that offered paid leave policies. Her results questioned several of the traditional assumptions about paid parental leave.

Universities with paid parental leave policies did not have higher levels of female faculty and that paid parental leave policies were not associated with higher rates of promotion for women to more senior faculty positions.

In fact, Dr. Yoest argued paid leave policies may have been detrimental to leveling the playing field. The majority of leave-taking women felt they had less-time for research and writing when they returned and were more likely than their non-leave taking peers to consider dropping off the tenure track. The majority of leave-takers felt such policies made almost no difference in their efforts to receive tenure and some suggested there was a stigma associated with taking a paid leave.

Based on these findings, Dr. Yoest concluded that, “Paid leave may operate as a political fig leaf. The institutional results indicate that the policy by itself does not result in higher levels of achievement for women, making the use of political capital to establish the policy, a poor investment.”

Dr. Yoest’s provocative presentation was followed by lively round of question and answers.

-Paul Testa, Research Associate to the Health Policy Program

Serving Our Young Adults

Articles — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:44:00 -0400

Many churches are developing programs to serve young adults. Many are investing in young adult coordinators in order to help grow their church.

However, there is another reason for churches to focus on young adults -- the critical needs of the early young adult population in our nation.

The violence at Virginia Tech last April perpetrated by a disturbed young adult is a tragedy beyond belief. It calls attention to the challenges faced by an often overlooked age group.

While American society has appropriately focused on the needs of teenagers in recent years, we should not lose sight of the needs of… more

Teach Your Children About Interfaith

Articles — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:45:00 -0400

One of the great fears that parents and church leaders have about their youth engaging in interfaith dialog is that they will lose their connection to their own religion and will end up rejecting and leaving their faith, maybe even converting to another religion as a result. My experience as a Christian pastor has been just the opposite -- I have watched young people become stronger in their own faith through exposure to other traditions.

Personal relationships matter a great deal in influencing how individuals come to faith, switch faiths or grow in faith. Most of us are part of the… more

Obesity and Child Well Being

Communications — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:45:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/04/2007 - 10:45am

There is no greater problem facing America’s children than the epidemic of overweight and obesity. The Foundation for Child Development’s Child Well Being Index has concluded that the increase is obesity and overweight among children since 1975 has decreased the overall well being of children by more than 30%.

Researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released a study this summer predicting that unless behaviors change, by 2015, 75% of adults and nearly 24% of children and adolescents in the United States will be overweight or obese. This could result in serious health, family and fiscal consequences for our nation.

What is causing this epidemic? What are its implications? What should America do about it?

This New America event, held in conjunction with the Foundation for Child Development and the offices of Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), featured a discussion of obesity and child well-being, and the communities that are most impacted. Panelists discussed the role of government and explored innovative programs at the state and local levels that are making a difference.

Video of the event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

The Missing Class

Communications — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/01/2007 - 12:30pm

There is an increase in national attention being paid to inequality in America. While U.S. government programs help the poor and politicians on both sides raise funds from the fortunate, the “Missing Class,” those making between $20,000 to $40,000 dollars a year for a family of four, is largely ignored.

Through their experiences with nine families, Princeton professor Katherine Newman and Inthefray magazine editor Victor Tan Chen trace the unique challenges faced by this growing demographic in their new book, The Missing Class. Newman and Chen explain where these families come from, how they’ve struggled and why they are stuck in the fraying safety net.

The New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative and Workforce and Family Program hosted this discussion with Katherine Newman, Victor Tan Chen and David Gray on the lives, stories and policies that impact the 54 million Americans -- including 21 percent of the nation’s children -- who might be considered the "missing class," and what this says about inequality and the American dream. Video of the event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording is available below.

The Stress of Balancing Work and Family

Communications — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/19/2007 - 12:00pm

Americans know from their own lives the stress of balancing work and family obligations. Extensive rhetoric from the media and academic worlds is difficult to disentangle, sometimes pointing to seemingly different conclusions regarding the state of work and family balance, the time parents are spending with their children, and the impacts such conflicts have on individual and family health.

The New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative and Workforce and Family Program seek to cut through the rhetoric with an analysis of the research through their paper, “The Stress of Balancing Work and Family: Impacts on Parent and Child Health.” At this event, Kelleen Kaye and David Gray discussed where the research leads us in examining the stress of work and family conflict.

Kelleen Kaye is an analyst and policy expert on family structure and family relationships as they relate to child, youth, and parental well-being. Video of the event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.