This study examined the relation between young children's social development and maternal employment among women who entered welfare-to-work programs. Structural equation models provided evidence that indicators of economic security, such as food security and job quality indicators, but not recent employment per se, operated through parenting…

Investigates the relationship between family economic hardship and adolescent distress among 622 students in grades 9-12. Hardship effects varied according to type of distress. Hardship had direct and indirect effects on the depression-loneliness factor and an indirect effect on the delinquency-drug use factor. (RJC)

The crisis in child care results from the increase in employed parents and the inadequacy of child caregiving resources. This serious family problem can be addressed through advocacy by national intergenerational coalitions, through establishment of day care centers in senior citizen housing, and through elder employment as teachers and…

Explores the relationship between birth order and academic attainment for 817 men and women from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Suggests that birth order produces an impact on total years of education only among members of the middle class. These findings support a resource-dilution hypothesis. (MJP)

Describes the evaluative model used to examine unsuccessful family reunification. Discusses findings regarding parental ambivalence and its effect on child placement reentry and implications of the findings for individual case assessment and for permanency services in general. (BB)

Surveyed the social workers responsible for 877 children in Hong Kong who had been placed in residential care and interviewed 205 parents of these children to determine the reasons for institutionalization. Found that most children were placed in residential care because the parents lacked the tangible resources necessary for them to bring up the…

The use and impact of a $256 monthly cash subsidy by 1,283 Michigan families with children with severe disabilities were examined. Families reported such uses as the purchase of clothing, toys, sitters, special foods, adaptive equipment, and professional services. Families indicated that the subsidy had improved family life, eased financial…

Proposes a policy where money currently being spent on subsidies for poor families and on the effects of illnesses resulting from poverty and crime would be spent instead on preventive health care, day care, education, and job training programs. Advocates helping people become self-sufficient as society's most cost-effective option. (CJS)

Analysis of household survey data in Kenya revealed that children's enrollment in school was affected by parents' expectations for future financial help from children and (for girls) by parents' perceptions of labor market discrimination against women, but not by patriarchal norms or child labor. The results challenge traditional explanations of…

Tested equivalence of theoretical model of parenting behaviors linking financial strain to adolescents' achievement for African American and European American families and single- and two-parent families. Found no significant differences in structural equation models between ethnic/racial groups or between family types. Negative parent-adolescent…

This report examines homeless families, isolates similarities and differences between homeless and poor but stably-housed families, identifies paths along which families slide into homelessness, and recommends policy changes. The report uses a body of data collected in 1987-1988 on two groups of poor families in Los Angeles (California) half of…

This report examines the care arrangements of children under age 13 who are in families with annual incomes below $15,000 using nationally representative data from the National Child Care Survey 1990 and its low-income-data supplement. Although many low-income children are cared for exclusively by their parents, supplementary care arrangements…

A national survey of college and university retirees in Spring 1990 sought to help institutions to assess benefit programs and provide services for retirees. The survey involved a nationwide cross section of 130 institutions of higher education from which responses were received from 19,126 retirees (40 percent retired faculty). Questions covered…

This report analyzes key student financial aid need issues in preparation for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The issues discussed in the report were chosen by the College Scholarship Service's Council Committee on Standards of Ability to Pay, for discussion at the College Board's Regional Assemblies. The issues include: (1)…

Aid to Families with Dependent Children for Unemployed Parents (AFDC-UP) is a state option under which cash aid is provided to two-parent families whose principal earner is unemployed or employed less than 100 hours a month. As of January 1988, 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam had AFDC-UP. This report reviews the following: (1)…