Showing papers in "The Future of Children in 1997"
TL;DR: Research supports the conclusion that family income has selective but, in some instances, quite substantial effects on child and adolescent well-being and suggests that interventions during early childhood may be most important in reducing poverty's impact on children.
Abstract: Although hundreds of studies have documented the association between family poverty and children's health, achievement, and behavior, few measure the effects of the timing, depth, and duration of poverty on children, and many fail to adjust for other family characteristics (for example, female headship, mother's age, and schooling) that may account for much of the observed correlation between poverty and child outcomes. This article focuses on a recent set of studies that explore the relationship between poverty and child outcomes in depth. By and large, this research supports the conclusion that family income has selective but, in some instances, quite substantial effects on child and adolescent well-being. Family income appears to be more strongly related to children's ability and achievement than to their emotional outcomes. Children who live in extreme poverty or who live below the poverty line for multiple years appear, all other things being equal, to suffer the worst outcomes. The timing of poverty also seems to be important for certain child outcomes. Children who experience poverty during their preschool and early school years have lower rates of school completion than children and adolescents who experience poverty only in later years. Although more research is needed on the significance of the timing of poverty on child outcomes, findings to date suggest that interventions during early childhood may be most important in reducing poverty's impact on children.
2,861 citations
TL;DR: Six federally funded in-kind public assistance programs that are intended to mitigate the effects of poverty on low-income children by providing access to basic human necessities such as food, housing, education, and health care are reviewed.
Abstract: This article reviews six federally funded in-kind public assistance programs that are intended to mitigate the effects of poverty on low-income children by providing access to basic human necessities such as food, housing, education, and health care. The evidence suggests that, while each program can be improved, these programs do achieve their basic objectives. In general, food stamps, the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and school nutrition programs are successful at providing food assistance to low-income children, starting with the prenatal period and continuing through the school years. The Food Stamp Program provides food assistance nationwide to all households solely on the basis of financial need and is central to the food assistance safety net for low-income children. The WIC program has helped reduce the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia in infants and children and has increased intakes of certain targeted nutrients for program participants. The school nutrition programs provide free or low-cost meals that satisfy the dietary goals of lunches and breakfasts to most school-age children. The Medicaid program has extended health insurance coverage to millions of low-income children. However, many children remain uninsured, and children enrolled in Medicaid do not have the same access to medical care as privately insured children. Relatively little is known about the effects of Medicaid on children’s health status. For Head Start, empirical evidence suggests that participating children show enhanced cognitive, social, and physical development in the short term. Studies of the longer-term impacts of Head Start are inconclusive. Although housing assistance improves housing quality and reduces housing costs for recipients, there is a large unmet need for acceptable, affordable housing among poor families. Important gaps remain in our knowledge of the effects of these programs on the well-being of children. Questions regarding a program’s effects over time on health and developmental outcomes particularly need more study.
115 citations
TL;DR: Since 1971, most states have been subject to lawsuits seeking to reform their education funding systems and much of current litigation and legislative activity in education funding seeks to assure "adequacy," that is, a sufficient level of funding to deliver an adequate education to every student in the state.
Abstract: Since 1971, most states have been subject to lawsuits seeking to reform their education funding systems. These cases are litigated on the basis of state (not federal) constitutional language and generally seek either greater equity in funding among school districts or a guaranteed level of adequate funding for education. State supreme courts have found the finance systems unconstitutional in 16 states, and many states are still actively involved in litigation. Even where litigation has not occurred or has not succeeded, the prospect of litigation has prompted revisions of state funding policies. Despite the predominant role equity and adequacy play in litigation, there are no universally accepted definitions for either of these words in education funding. Most commonly, equity is measured in terms of the variation in per-pupil revenues among school districts in a single state. By this measure, some states have greater funding equity than others, and in most states wealthy districts have significantly higher per-pupil expenditures than do poor districts. Equity is likely to be greater when the residents of poor districts pay higher taxes. (In some states, residents in poorer areas pay twice as much of their income in local taxes as do residents of wealthier communities.) Equity is also greater in those states where the state’s share of the education budget is higher and where the state consistently targets its contributions to lower-income districts. Much of current litigation and legislative activity in education funding seeks to assure “adequacy,” that is, a sufficient level of funding to deliver an adequate education to every student in the state. Most states have not explicitly addressed the questions of how much education is “adequate” or how educational standards can be converted to a finance formula. Several approaches to calculating the cost of an adequate education are described.
112 citations
TL;DR: Evidence showing that many families cycle back and forth between welfare and work, losing jobs and returning to public assistance while they seek work again is reviewed, recommending policy changes and program approaches that can help families overcome setbacks and stabilize their lives.
Abstract: Most welfare-to-work programs designed to help single mothers leave welfare for employment focus on the challenge of finding a job. This article looks beyond the point of employment to consider the difficulty many former welfare recipients have keeping their jobs. The authors review evidence showing that many families cycle back and forth between welfare and work, losing jobs and returning to public assistance while they seek work again. Factors contributing to high rates of job loss include characteristics of the job and of the worker. Temporary jobs, frequent layoffs, low pay in relation to work expenses, lack of experience meeting employer expectations, and personal or family problems all lead to dismissals and resignations. Drawing from the experience of innovative programs, the authors recommend policy changes and program approaches that can help families overcome setbacks and stabilize their lives as they move from welfare into increasingly stable employment.
107 citations
TL;DR: Maternal employment does not appear to undermine children's social or cognitive development from ages 5 to 14, and it may yield advantages, and the authors emphasize, however, that background characteristics specific to the mothers who chose employment contributed to these positive outcomes.
Abstract: Despite the importance of anticipating how children may be affected by policies that move mothers off welfare and into employment, as the article by Zaslow and Emig in this journal issue points out, few research studies have addressed this critical policy question. To help fill that gap, this article presents the results of a new study using national survey data to examine child outcomes among families that had previously received welfare. About half the families studied had mothers who remained at home, the others were working at varying wage levels. The findings reported here echo themes discussed in the two preceding articles. Maternal employment does not appear to undermine children's social or cognitive development from ages 5 to 14, and it may yield advantages. Children whose mothers earned more than $5.00 per hour, particularly, had somewhat better outcomes than others. The authors emphasize, however, that background characteristics specific to the mothers who chose employment contributed to these positive outcomes. The authors add that it would be risky to apply these generalizations based on these findings to families forced into employment by welfare reform.
104 citations
TL;DR: The authors caution, however, that all the working mothers studied thus far entered employment voluntarily, so their experiences may be more favorable than the experiences of families who may be forced off welfare and into jobs.
Abstract: When mothers who have depended on welfare become employed, the change affects not only welfare budgets and the women themselves, but the daily lives of the children who make up two-thirds of the welfare population. This article is the first of a set of three that consider what we know--and do not know--about the likely effects that a mother's moving from welfare to work will have on her children. This article gives an overview of research studies conducted from the late 1960s to the present that consider how maternal employment affects children in low-income families. The efforts of these families to juggle working and child rearing have received far less attention than those of middle-class or professional families. Most studies that do focus on low-income groups indicate that children are seldom harmed when their mothers work, and many have improved outcomes, especially in terms of cognitive development. The authors caution, however, that all the working mothers studied thus far entered employment voluntarily, so their experiences may be more favorable than the experiences of families who may be forced off welfare and into jobs. Child outcome research that focuses directly on the families who will be affected by welfare reform is currently unavailable. The two subsequent articles (by Parcel and Menaghan and by Moore and Driscoll) continue with the themes raised in this overview and examine in depth specific questions policymakers should ask as they anticipate the effects that moving mothers into low-wage jobs may have on the development of children: How does a parent's going to work outside the home affect family life? And how do children who were once supported by public assistance fare after their mothers become employed?
89 citations
TL;DR: The authors recommend that welfare-to-work programs devote attention to assisting mothers to obtain more complex work at good wages, helping mothers understand the role home environments play in shaping children's development, and encouraging parents to make their children's home surroundings as positive as possible.
Abstract: Assumptions about the processes that link a mother's employment to the development of her child must underlie expectations about how children may fare when their mothers move from welfare dependence into employment. This article explores the idea, mentioned in the research overview by Zaslow and Emig in this journal issue, that the working conditions such as wages, work hours, and task complexity that mothers experience on the job can influence their behavior as parents and shape the home environments they provide for their children. This article discusses the significance of home environments for children's intellectual and emotional development and considers how home surroundings change when mothers begin jobs that are more rewarding or less rewarding. The authors conclude that, while maternal employment is not necessarily harmful, if welfare recipients find only low-wage, stressful jobs, working may prove costly for both family and child well-being. The authors recommend that welfare-to-work programs devote attention to (1) assisting mothers to obtain more complex work at good wages, (2) helping mothers understand the role home environments play in shaping children's development, and (3) encouraging parents to make their children's home surroundings as positive as possible.
79 citations
TL;DR: The author concludes that the skill deficiencies of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children do not represent an insurmountable barrier to employment, although these deficiencies do restrict the wages recipients can earn.
Abstract: The welfare reform goal of moving mothers who rely on welfare into private-sector employment cannot be achieved only by changes in public policy. Employment rates reflect the job qualifications of individuals, obstacles to work outside the home, the attractiveness of available jobs, and the capacity of the labor market to absorb new workers at particular skill levels. This article examines how each of these factors is likely to influence current welfare recipients’ success in finding employment and the wages they are likely to earn. The author concludes that the skill deficiencies of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children do not represent an insurmountable barrier to employment, although these deficiencies do restrict the wages recipients can earn. Without continued public assistance in the form of wage subsidies, child care payments, or help securing health insurance, most families that move from welfare to work will remain below the poverty level.
74 citations
TL;DR: Despite the observation by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that “the issue of how many children this bill puts into poverty has great concreteness for legislators,” the welfare reform legislation was enacted and is being implemented as this journal issue goes to press.
Abstract: In July 1996, as the House-Senate Conference Committee was meeting to negotiate the final version of welfare reform legislation, the Urban Institute released a study that estimated the welfare bill would increase the number of children in poverty in the United States by 1.1 million.1 The study, which also concluded that the legislation would worsen living conditions for millions of other families with children, figured prominently in efforts by advocates for the poor to persuade lawmakers to vote against the bill and to bring forth a veto from President Clinton. Despite the observation by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that “the issue of how many children this bill puts into poverty has great concreteness for legislators,” the welfare reform legislation was enacted and is being implemented as this journal issue goes to press.2
74 citations
TL;DR: Changes in employment of family members and changes in family composition are each strongly associated with transitions into and out of childhood poverty, of which changes in employment are the most important.
Abstract: Child poverty rates have remained high since the middle of the 1970s. While several trends, including declines in the number of children per family and increases in parental years of schooling, worked to reduce child poverty rates, several others, including show economic growth, widening economic inequality, and increases in the proportion of children living in mother-only families, had the opposite effect, pushing more children into poverty. Poverty is a common risk: One-third of all children will be poor for at least one year. For many, poverty lasts only a short while, but for a small percentage, poverty persists both throughout childhood and into the adult years. Poverty is not shared equally across different demographic groups. African-American children. Latino children, and children in mother-only families are disproportionately poor. Long-term poverty is even more concentrated than single-year poverty. In 1992, almost 90% of long-term poor children were African-American as compared to all poor children (single-year and long-term poor), of whom 60% were white. Both family structure and the labor market are implicated in long-term childhood poverty. Changes in employment of family members and changes in family composition are each strongly associated with transitions into and out of childhood poverty. Of these, changes in employment are the most important.
74 citations
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TL;DR: It is urged that policymakers work to facilitate access to subsidies, increase the supply of care that can meet the needs of poor working families, and guard against exposure to poor-quality care that could jeopardize both children's well-being and parents' employment.
Abstract: More than half of the children in families supported by welfare are under age six, and another third are in grade school. The mothers of these children cannot leave welfare for employment unless they can find and pay for child care. Yet, as this article points out, the child care needs of these families are not easily met: Many require care for infants and toddlers, care at odd hours, and care in poor neighborhoods-all of which are scarce. Evidence reviewed by the authors indicates that problems with child care affordability, availability, and quality impede mothers from participating in the labor force and in job training programs. Recent public finding for child care subsidies has helped families leaving welfare to afford the child care they need, although the demand for financial assistance outstrips available funding. This article urges that policymakers work to facilitate access to subsidies, increase the supply of care that can meet the needs of poor working families, and guard against exposure to poor-quality care that can jeopardize both children's well-being and parents' employment.
TL;DR: Analysis of data from several major public programs designed to address the risk of inadequate nutrition among children shows a higher-than-expected-albeit-declining level of stunting among program participants.
Abstract: Growth stunting, defined as height for age below the fifth percentile on a reference growth curve, is traditionally used as an indicator of nutritional status in children. Growth stunting is a population-based indicator and can indicate the prevalence of malnutrition or nutrition-related disorders among an identified population of children. Among certain segments of the U.S. child population, most notably poor children, growth stunting occurs more often than expected, suggesting that inadequate nutrition may be a problem for these children. Available general population data are not recent enough to allow for an assessment of the impact of several major public programs designed to address the risk of inadequate nutrition among children. Analysis of data from these programs does show, however, a higher-than-expected-albeit-declining level of stunting among program participants. The serious consequences of growth stunting and malnutrition-particularly impaired cognitive development-suggest that careful consideration of the growth stunting indicator should remain an important part of policy discussions on public nutrition programs.
TL;DR: The article examines in detail the Work Incentive Program (WIN) launched in 1967 and the Family Support Act of 1988, comparing these to each other and to the outlines of welfare reform signed into law in 1996.
Abstract: The best known of the nation’s welfare programs, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), has from its inception reflected a tension between the desire to support children in poor, lone-parent families and the belief that parents should be held responsible for providing for themselves and their children. Against that backdrop, this article reviews the history of the AFDC program and traces the emergence of policies and programs intended to encourage employment of the parents (almost exclusively mothers) who receive benefits. The article examines in detail the Work Incentive Program (WIN) launched in 1967 and the Family Support Act of 1988, comparing these to each other and to the outlines of welfare reform signed into law in 1996. The article emphasizes the importance of sustained attention to the implementation of policy goals in concrete programs and shows that the merits of those early programs have not been fully tested because they were never funded or implemented at the scale intended. The article also outlines ways in which welfare-to-work programs can be used to assist children as well as parents, and urges that children’s well-being remain the core purpose of welfare policy.
TL;DR: Key features of current comprehensive community initiatives, the limitations of efforts to evaluate them, and factors contributing to their success or failure are described.
Abstract: Comprehensive community initiatives strive to improve the lives of children and fam- ilies in neighborhoods characterized by extreme and concentrated poverty. The ini- tiatives use multifaceted approaches to strengthen communities and improve the provision of social and other services to children and families. Early examples include the settlement houses at the beginning of the twentieth century, the neighborhood programs of the 1930s, and the war on poverty efforts of the 1960s. Using specific examples, this article describes key features of current comprehensive community initiatives, the limitations of efforts to evaluate them, and factors contributing to their success or failure.
TL;DR: Examining the extent to which poor children and their mothers have private insurance, Medicaid, or no health insurance at all suggests that implementing welfare reform at a time when rates of private insurance coverage are declining will be challenging and may expose some families to health risks.
Abstract: Access to adequate health insurance is a key concern of families with children at all income levels. Since 1965, mothers and children on welfare have had health care coverage through the Medicaid program, which has provided a health care safety net for welfare recipients. Although most Americans are insured through their employers, families who leave welfare for employment often find themselves in jobs that do not offer health care coverage, adding to the ranks of the uninsured. This article examines the extent to which poor children and their mothers have private insurance, Medicaid, or no health insurance at all. It documents how recent expansions of Medicaid eligibility to low-income children who do not receive welfare have improved the insurance status of children, though these changes have not helped the mothers who leave welfare for work. Citing evidence that health insurance options influence the welfare and employment decisions of women whose families face health problems, the article suggests that implementing welfare reform at a time when rates of private insurance coverage are declining will be challenging and may expose some families to health risks.
TL;DR: The article examines the likelihood that an individual will earn enough to keep his or her family out of poverty, given the individual's educational attainment, age, and race and examines how an alternative measure proposed by a National Research Council panel would address the official measure's shortcomings.
Abstract: According to the official U.S. measure of poverty, in 1995 the child poverty rate in this country was nearly 21%, compared with an adult poverty rate of 11%. This article explores why, according to the official measure, there are so many poor children. Working from the premise that children are poor because they live with poor adults, the reasons for adult poverty are reviewed. Both economic forces and demographic trends have contributed to growing inequality of earnings among workers. That inequality coupled with stagnating real earnings has increased poverty. In addition, education, age, and race affect an individual's earning capacity; the article examines the likelihood that an individual will earn enough to keep his or her family out of poverty, given the individual's educational attainment, age, and race. The reasons for the large difference between the child and adult poverty rates are explored, using a decomposition of the poverty population to show how demographic characteristics such as higher fertility rates among poor families and the higher prevalence of single-parent families among the poor lead to substantially higher poverty rates for children than for adults. Finally, the article examines the validity of the official poverty measure and reviews how an alternative measure proposed by a National Research Council panel would address the official measure's shortcomings. If the panel's proposed measure were adopted, it would change the statistical face of poor children. It would, for example, show an increase in the proportion of poor children who live in families with two parents and a corresponding decrease in the proportion in families with only one parent, and it would show an increase in the proportion of children who live in families with at least one full-time employed adult and a corresponding decrease in the proportion in families with no adult employed full time.
TL;DR: Public school finance mechanisms differ from state to state, and they are often extremely complex, leading to significant variation from district to district in the percentage of funding received from federal, state and local sources and wide disparities in the level of support for the educational program.
Abstract: Public school finance mechanisms differ from state to state, and they are often extremely complex. Most commonly, the federal government contributes about 7% of the total school budget, and the remainder is split fairly evenly between local contributions (primarily raised through local property taxes) and state contributions (primarily raised through state income taxes and sales taxes). The average amount of money provided per pupil varies greatly from one state to another. The method of distributing the state contribution to school districts is equally complex, often involving some combination of basic funding (which guarantees a minimum level of general purpose support per student), power equalization (which guarantees that a certain level of local taxation will yield a given level of per-pupil funding), local option (higher levels of taxation approved in some school districts, not equalized by the state), and categorical funding (supplemental state and federal funds, earmarked for specific needs such as special education or compensatory services to schools with a concentration of poverty, or to meet state-dictated priorities, such as reducing class size or purchasing state-approved textbooks). This complexity often leads to significant variation from district to district in the percentage of funding received from federal, state, and local sources and wide disparities in the level of support for the educational program. Typically, wealthier districts provide more of their funding from local taxes, while lower-income districts are more heavily dependent on state and federal sources.
TL;DR: The AFDC program guaranteed cash assistance for poor single-parent families, allowing the mothers to remain home with their children, and the faces of the children who depend on welfare have faded into the background.
Abstract: Policymakers have long hoped to find ways to buffer children from the ravages of poverty without excusing parents from the responsibility of providing for their offspring. For 60 years, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program guaranteed cash assistance for poor single-parent families, allowing the mothers to remain home with their children. In 1993, federal and state governments spent $22.3 billion on AFDC benefits to about 5 million families, reaching 9.5 million children. In recent years, however, frustration with the welfare program has escalated, and the faces of the children who depend on welfare have faded into the background.
TL;DR: Public attitudes toward children, poverty, and government are examined to better understand the values underlying public support for poverty programs for children and whether such programs are fitted to the practical needs of everyday life.
Abstract: Values create a framework through which the American public gives meaning to particular concepts and events. To better understand the values underlying public support for poverty programs for children, this article examines public attitudes toward children, poverty, and government. Although Americans continue to view helping children as a top policy priority, there is ambivalence with regard to poor children because of their inevitable connection to poor adults and the public's expectation that adults be self-sufficient. Rather than choosing between extreme ideological views of the causes of poverty and the ideal role of government in curbing poverty, the American public takes an integrative perspective that both values individual initiative and supports opportunities for all Americans. Favored are government programs fitted to the practical needs of everyday life. Such programs should support personal efforts but not assume responsibility for individual or particular group outcomes.
TL;DR: Four criteria are suggested (efficiency, return on investment, incentives, and equity) for evaluating and comparing public programs for poor children and policy recommendations are provided that can be supported by the available evidence.
Abstract: Many public programs serve poor children. By setting budgets, benefit levels, and program rules, policymakers decide how many children will receive benefits and which benefits they will receive. Making these choices in a rational way is difficult, given the noncomparability of different types of program benefits and the limited information available about the effects these programs have on poor children. This article suggests four criteria (efficiency, return on investment, incentives, and equity) for evaluating and comparing public programs for poor children, and provides an overview of the patchwork of information that is currently available about the effects of eight large federal programs using these criteria. Some broad themes emerge. First, several programs that target specific benefits directly to children have been shown to have positive effects on a range of outcomes. Second, even before the current round of welfare reform, the mix of federal support available to poor children had changed in a way that put more emphasis on providing benefits in kind. Finally, more must be learned about the effects of programs for poor children before sweeping policy recommendations can be made. This article concludes with policy recommendations that can be supported by the available evidence.
TL;DR: Research is just beginning to show what aspects of school site decision making are associated with improved teaching and learning, and polls show that many districts are attempting to delegate more decisions over resource allocation to the school site level.
Abstract: Locally elected school boards have the authority and responsibility to decide how school budgets will be spent. In doing so, however, they must balance multiple funding restrictions and competing priorities. Despite great variance in local circumstances, most school districts have remarkably similar spending patterns, generally allocating from 60% to 63% of their budget to instruction and dividing the remainder among student services such as health services, counseling, and speech therapy; administration; building operation and maintenance; and food services and transportation. Polls show that many districts are attempting to delegate more decisions over resource allocation to the school site level. Research is just beginning to show what aspects of school site decision making are associated with improved teaching and learning.
TL;DR: Evidence from the United States and other developed countries suggests that a variety of approaches to reducing child poverty are feasible, however, implementation of effective programs will depend on the nation's political willingness to devote more resources to this end.
Abstract: Child poverty can be reduced by policies that help families earn more and supplement earned income with other sources of cash. A comprehensive antipoverty strategy could use a combination of these approaches. This article reviews recent U.S. experience with these broad approaches to reducing child poverty and discusses lessons from abroad for U.S. policymakers. The evidence reviewed suggests that, although policies to increase earned incomes among low-wage workers can help, these earnings gains will not be sufficient to reduce child poverty substantially. Government income support programs, tax policy, and child support payments from absent parents can be used to supplement earned incomes of poor families with children. Until recently, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was the main government assistance program for low-income families with children. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has recently replaced AFDC. This article explains why TANF benefits are likely to be less than AFDC benefits. The article also examines the effects of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income on child poverty. The most encouraging recent development in antipoverty policy has been the decline in the federal tax burden on poor families, primarily as a result of the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), now the largest cash assistance program for families with children. In 1995, government transfer programs (including the value of cash, food, housing, medical care, and taxes) decreased child poverty by 38% (from 24.2% to 14.2% of children under 18). Child poverty may also be reduced by policies that increase contributions from absent single parents to support their children. Overall, evidence from the United States and other developed countries suggests that a variety of approaches to reducing child poverty are feasible. Implementation of effective programs will depend, however, on the nation's political willingness to devote more resources to this end.
TL;DR: The justification for public financial support of schooling is both civic and personal, and schools are expected to prepare children for the responsibilities of citizenship and to improve their individual economic prospects and quality of life.
Abstract: Schooling matters. Decades of research confirm that both the quality and the quantity of schooling are strongly associated with increased income, better health, lower levels of criminal activity, and less reliance on public assistance.1 The justification for public financial support of schooling is both civic and personal. Schools are expected to prepare children for the responsibilities of citizenship and to improve their individual economic prospects and quality of life.
TL;DR: The authors urge policymakers to invest in efforts to establish paternity and collect child support, and estimate the financial resources that go untapped when child support is not collected from the men who father children who later receive AFDC benefits.
Abstract: Public interest in promoting the self-sufficiency of families that depend on welfare concerns the ability of fathers, as well as mothers, to support their children through employment. Many welfare recipients are never-married women, and their children seldom receive child support payments. This article estimates the financial resources that go untapped when child support is not collected from the men who father children who later receive AFDC benefits. While these men may earn little at the time the child is born, their incomes are likely to escalate over time. The child support payments they would make over the child’s first 18 years equal almost half of the welfare benefit received by the mother and child. Based on these probable long-term earnings, the authors urge policymakers to invest in efforts to establish paternity and collect child support. I n confronting high rates of poverty for children living in mother-only households, policymakers have begun to turn their attention to an often neglected component of the problem: the fathers of these children. The policy focus falls on the resources that could be made available to children through child support paid by the father. If tapped, these resources could reduce the likelihood of poverty for children by supplementing welfare payments and easing the mother’s burden of support. Alternatively, the father’s contributions could be used to reduce public expenditures on the children. It is generally believed that the resources of absent fathers (especially the partners of young mothers) are quite limited. The fact that a young father may be unemployed or poorly paid when his child is born need not imply, however, that he will never be able to provide significant support. The potential benefits of paternity establishment and child support enforcement depend on the father’s eventual earnings, in addition to his current situation. This article attempts to measure the resources that could be provided by fathers who do not live with their children, focusing on children whose
TL;DR: The basic structure of the AFDC program, including eligibility criteria and benefits, is explained; the characteristics of families that have received AFDC are discussed; trends in the program's size and cost from the 1970s to 1996; and the major ways in which the block grant established in the 1996 welfare reform legislation compares to theAFDC program that it replaced are indicated.
Abstract: This journal issue discusses the policy challenges of helping parents move from welfare to work. As a foundation, this introductory article explains the federal-state program of cash assistance called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), to which the term welfare refers in most of these articles. While a number of other social programs are sometimes included under the umbrella of welfare-such as the Supplemental Security Income program for the disabled, food stamps, and Medicaid-the program that has drawn the most public scrutiny and negative attention, and the centerpiece of the 1996 welfare reform legislation, is AFDC. This article explains the basic structure of the AFDC program, including eligibility criteria and benefits; discusses the characteristics of families that have received AFDC; describes trends in the program's size and cost from the 1970s to 1996; and indicates the major ways in which the block grant established in the 1996 welfare reform legislation compares to the AFDC program that it replaced.
TL;DR: Evaluations of treatment programs funded through the federal initiatives of the late 1980s and early 1990s show some level of treatment effectiveness, but they also highlight the continuing need for rigorous evaluations of treatment outcomes.
Abstract: The problem of drug-exposed infants has been a societal concern for more than a decade. The Future of Children devoted its first journal issue in spring 19911 to this topic and has provided information updates in subsequent journal issues.2 The 1991 issue reviewed the major trends in judicial, legislative, and treatment responses to this problem, reporting that, for the most part, appellate courts were rejecting attempts to prosecute pregnant substance-abusing women, and state and federal legislative efforts were creating more treatment programs for, rather than punishment of, these women. With only limited exceptions, these trends continue today. Evaluations of treatment programs funded through the federal initiatives of the late 1980s and early 1990s show some level of treatment effectiveness. However, they also highlight the continuing need for rigorous evaluations of treatment outcomes.
TL;DR: Efforts to improve funding equity have led to increased expenditures: rather than take funding from wealthier districts, most states prefer to raise the funding available to schools at the bottom and the middle of the scale, increasing total spending.
Abstract: Since 1949-50, per-pupil expenditures in public elementary and secondary schools have more than quadrupled, even after adjusting for inflation. This article discusses some of the reasons. A significant share of the increase is the result of an 86% inflation-adjusted increase in teachers' salaries between 1949-50 and 1971-72, although teachers' salaries have changed little in the following 25 years. The ratio of students to school employees has dropped by half since 1949-50 as a result of declining class sizes and the hiring of more nonteaching school employees, which significantly affects costs. Even maintaining class size at a constant level will cause school budgets to grow at a rate greater than that of inflation because schools must compete in a labor market against other employers who are able to produce more with fewer employees. A substantial part of the increase in per-pupil spending is a result of expansions in services provided by the schools. More expensive, specialized classes for high school students, compensatory education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, special education and related services for students with disabilities, and desegregation efforts all contribute to higher costs. Efforts to improve funding equity have led to increased expenditures: rather than take funding from wealthier districts, most states prefer to raise the funding available to schools at the bottom and the middle of the scale, increasing total spending. Finally, a share of the total increase must be attributed to the workings of the political system governing schools.
TL;DR: Findings from key evaluations of strategies to increase the employment and earnings of individuals are summarized, focusing on strategies for increasing rates of participation in the programs, for improving implementation, and for strengthening links with the local labor market, which ultimately determines the success or failure of any welfare-to-work program.
Abstract: As states reform their welfare systems to emphasize work and self-sufficiency, they can draw on significant past experience with efforts to promote employment. Work and training programs for welfare recipients and other disadvantaged individuals have been operating in every state for nearly 30 years. This article summarizes findings from key evaluations of strategies to increase the employment and earnings of individuals. The article also reviews lessons about program design and management drawn from studies of program outcomes and implementation. Evaluations of net impact typically measure outcomes for randomly selected individuals who participated in programs, and compare those with outcomes for individuals who did not receive the treatment. Studies of program outcome and implementation analyze the effectiveness of entire programs in real-world operational settings. The evidence from net-impact evaluations shows that programs that encourage, help, or require welfare recipients to find jobs or participate in training or work-related activities can increase employment and earnings and in some cases reduce welfare costs. Even the most successful programs, however, yield only small gains in earnings that do not move most former welfare recipients out of poverty. The article also discusses critical policy and implementation issues that influence the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs overall. It focuses on strategies for increasing rates of participation in the programs, for improving implementation, and for strengthening links with the local labor market, which ultimately determines the success or failure of any welfare-to-work program.
TL;DR: Overall, much progress has been made in putting new structures in place, though changes in practice evolve more slowly, and it is concluded that KERA's strategy is promising, but more focus should be placed on school-level uses of education dollars.
Abstract: School finance reform is usually done piecemeal, with many changes made to an existing framework over a period of decades. Also, finance reform is generally carried out separately from reform of school programs or governance. A notable exception is Kentucky which, in response to a 1989 state supreme court ruling, created an entirely new elementary and secondary education system with new finance and governance mechanisms and new academic expectations and accountability mechanisms. This article summarizes the major elements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and research on its impact. Revenues increased, funding differences between districts shrank, but basic allocations (percentage spent on instruction, facilities, and so on) changed little. A new Office of Education Accountability, reporting to the legislature, tracks incentives and sanctions for schools that progress or regress against their baseline performance. School site councils (SSCs) are in operation, with authority to hire the principal and to make decisions about curriculum, instruction, and the school budget. Major instructional changes were implemented in the early elementary grades, and model restructured high schools are being studied. Significant supplemental services (both academic and social) have been added. Overall, much progress has been made in putting new structures in place, though changes in practice evolve more slowly. The article identifies barriers to change and concludes that KERA's strategy is promising, but more focus should be placed on school-level uses of education dollars. SSCs have authority, but they should also be offered substantial guidance regarding which practices will most reliably promote learning.
TL;DR: Charter schools, vouchers, and contracts with private agencies providing educational services all reflect the belief that a substantial part of educational budgeting, decision making, and accountability should be based at the level of individual schools, rather than at the school district level.
Abstract: Charter schools, vouchers, and contracts with private agencies providing educational services all reflect the belief that a substantial part of educational budgeting, decision making, and accountability should be based at the level of individual schools, rather than at the school district level. Though states are moving quickly to set up charter schools, and some states and districts are debating the merits of vouchers or experimenting with private contracts, in fact there is little information about the educational effectiveness of these innovations. Charter schools face substantial challenges in financing and business operations; many state charter school laws provide no start-up or capital funds and only limited operational funds. In addition, many charter school laws are vague on key questions of authority and school-district relations. Contracting with private agencies presents a wide range of options, many of which have been tried in only a few locations. The most publicized contracts with private agencies to run multiple schools have included some highly visible disappointments and no clear successes as yet, though experience is too limited to draw conclusions about contracting in general. Vouchers that may be used at private schools are extremely controversial for several reasons. Because private schools can decide which students they will accept, opponents are concerned that extensive use of vouchers may dramatically change the composition of the public school student body. It is also unclear whether vouchers to religious schools (which comprise 82% of all private schools in the United States) violate the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state.