What has a more powerful influence on how parents raise their young children: the way they were raised or their faith? What roles do professionals and friends play in shaping parents? views on childrearing? What impact is the economic downturn having on child care arrangements for young families? These questions and more are some of the issues addressed in a new national parent survey of 1,615 parents of children from birth to 3 years conducted for ZERO TO THREE by Peter Hart Research. The survey was designed to explore the issues and challenges that parents of young children confront today,…
This federally funded guide shares what is known about promising practices in healthy marriage and relationship (HMR) programs, especially those serving low-income and culturally diverse populations. It is intended to be helpful to a variety of audiences, including those who are interested in starting a new program, those already involved in running a program, and those who are evaluating or funding such programs. An introduction provides background information on the healthy marriage movement, challenges common to providing HMR services, and funding of HMR services. Chapter 2 provides…
Incarceration has become an increasingly common event in the lives of young adult men and children. While father's history of incarceration (FHI) robustly correlates with delinquency and criminal justice involvement among sons, this research has not been contextualized to racial stratification present in the U.S. Addressing this gap in current literature, this study attempts to examine the effects of FHI on delinquency and adult arrest among national samples of white, African American, and Hispanic males from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Given the large inequalities…
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=7,686) are used to determine whether racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic stress and social protection explain group differences in the association between family structure instability and three outcomes for white, black, and Mexican-American adolescents: delinquent behavior, age at first sex, and age at first nonmarital birth. Findings indicate that the positive association between mothers' union transitions and each outcome for white adolescents is attenuated by social protection. The association of instability with…
Prepared for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in October, 2009, this report is an examination of how the mutual and interlocking responsibility of effective government policy and African American fathers' engagement can improve the lives of African American children, families, and communities. (Author abstract modified)
