Isabel V. Sawhill

drifting into sex and parenthood without marriage

Generation unbound

While virtually everyone talks about the importance of investing in the next generation, in the late 1990s federal spending on children represented only 2 percent of the nations gross domestic product. This volume argues forcefully that the life prospects of children at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can be improved substantially by making appropriate investments now.

New Policies, Brighter Futures for America's Children

One Percent for the Kids

Ron Haskins

"Presents facts and factors that contribute to economic opportunity, looking at how poor, middle class, and rich have fared in recent decades. Proposes a cost-effective agenda for increasing opportunity, consistent with American values, and focuses on improving lives of the young and disadvantaged, emphasizing individual responsibility as indispensable for success"--Provided by publisher.

Creating an Opportunity Society

Sara S. McLanahan

A Brookings Institution Press and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University publication This semiannual journal provides research and analysis to promote effective policies and programs for children. This volume features the following articles: Improving Children's Prospects: An Overview Our Elementary and Secondary Schools: Equalizing Opportunity or Replicating the Status Quo? Children's Health and Social Mobility Making It in America: Social Mobility in the Immigrant Population Early Childhood Development and Social Mobility

Opportunity in America

The Future of Children

In the United States, long considered the land of opportunity, children born into different types of families begin life with very unequal prospects. A growing group of children is being raised in families in which a poorly educated mother begins childbearing at an early age, often outside marriage, and ends up dependent on public welfare. Another group is raised by parents who delay childbearing until they are well-educated, married, and have stable jobs; these children go on to lead more advantageous lives. While virtually everyone talks about the importance of investing in the next generation, in the late 1990s federal spending on children represented only 2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. This volume argues forcefully that the life prospects of children at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can be improved substantially—and the growing gap between them and more privileged children reduced—by making appropriate investments now. Taking their cue on funding from the Blair government in the United Kingdom, which since 1997 has invested almost an extra 1 percent of GDP to reducing child poverty, the contributors offer specific proposals, along with their rationales and costs, to improve early childhood education and health care, bolster family income and work, reduce teen pregnancy, encourage and strengthen marriage, and allow families to move to better neighborhoods. The final chapter assesses the progress of the Blair government toward reaching its goals. Contributors include Isabel Sawhill (Brookings Institution), Greg Duncan (Northwestern University), Katherine Magnuson (Columbia University), Andrea Kane (Brookings Institution), Sara McLanahan (Princeton University), Irwin Garfinkel (Columbia University), Robert Haveman (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Jens Ludwig (Georgetown University), David Armor (George Mason University), Barbara Wolfe (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Scott Scrivner (Public/Private Ventures), and John Hills (London School of Economics).

Urban Institute

Heather L. Ross

Anita R. MacIntosh

Single parent families, usually headed by women, are transitional in two important senses: they frequently represent a transitional stage between marriages; and they are a symptom of the transition from a "distributive" family structure, in which a man provides resources for financially dependent women and children, to a form characterized by less specialized marital roles and more equal sharing of the physical care and financial support of children. This book examines the social and public policy implications of these changes. It is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1, "Introduction," provides reasons for research and explanations for change. Chapter 2, "Families Headed by Women: Their Growth and Changing Composition," explores recent trends and family demography. Chapter 3,"Marital Instability," examines marriage from psychological, economic, and social perspectives. Chapter 4, "Race and Family Structure," discusses racial family differences and recent trends in female headedness among black families. Chapter 5, "Welfare and Female-Headed Families," examines the roles of eligibility, benefits, and incentives. Chapter 6, "What Happens to Children in Female-Headed Families?" evaluates existing knowledge and explores negative consequences for children. Chapter 7, "The Family in Transition," sums up the book's themes and suggests new directions for research and public policy. A bibliography is appended to each chapter. The book includes six appendices providing various types of statistical analysis, 50 statistical tables, and four figures. An author and subject index is included. (AF)

The Growth of Families Headed by Women

Time of Transition

Charles F. Stone

Economic Policy in the Reagan Years

Over half of all births to young adults in the United States now occur outside of marriage, and many are unplanned. The result is increased poverty and inequality for children. The left argues for more social support for unmarried parents; the right argues for a return to traditional marriage. In Generation Unbound, Isabel V. Sawhill offers a third approach: change "drifters" into "planners." In a well-written and accessible survey of the impact of family structure on child well-being, Sawhill contrasts "planners," who are delaying parenthood until after they marry, with "drifters," who are having unplanned children early and outside of marriage. These two distinct patterns are contributing to an emerging class divide and threatening social mobility in the United States. Sawhill draws on insights from the new field of behavioral economics, showing that it is possible, by changing the default, to move from a culture that accepts a high number of unplanned pregnancies to a culture in which adults only have children when they are ready to be a parent.

Isabel V. Sawhill

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