This article attempts to provide a factual, historical perspective on the current family situation of American children. Demographic statistics from recent decades are given which show trends toward small family size, nuclear families, one-parent families, and a higher level of education among parents. (MS)

This publication reports trends in teen childbearing in the nation, in each state, and in large cities using data from the 2001 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Rates of teenage childbearing continue to steadily decline, and the 2001 rates are historic lows for each age group. NCHS data showed that almost 80% of teen births nationwide…

This report presents five commonly held stereotypes about children in the United States and analyzes their validity through discussion of data related to each. These stereotypes include: (1) births to unmarried women have increased tremendously mostly because of women of color; (2) child poverty is a problem in the inner city, not in the suburbs…

This paper examines the relationship between female schooling and two behaviors--cumulative fertility and contraceptive use--in 14 Sub-Saharan African countries where Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have been conducted since the mid-1980s. Using multivariate regression analysis, the paper compares the effect of schooling across countries, in…

Ghana was among the first sub-Saharan African countries to adopt a population policy, in 1969. In this paper, individual women are linked to the characteristics of the nearest pharmacy, health facility and source of family planning to assess the relative importance of socioeconomic background and the availability, price and quality of family…

This Kids Count pamphlet provides information on the living arrangements of Florida's children, focusing on family types. Drawing on information from the 1997 National Survey of America's Families, the Current Population Survey, and the National Center for Health Statistics, the pamphlet presents information on changes in America's families,…

This report examines the extent to which welfare reform is changing adolescent behaviors that lead to welfare dependency. It begins by discussing the provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 that require teenagers to stay in school and live with a parent, concluding that relatively little can be…

This review of seven Healthy People objectives for the nation's 100 largest cities and their surrounding areas documents considerable but inconsistent progress toward improving health in urban and suburban areas. It describes achievements in reaching Healthy People 2000/2010 goals, which were created by the Office of the Surgeon General of the…

An interview survey of a statewide sample of community members revealed local perceptions of health problems. While community residents differed slightly in their perceptions of local health problems and the social agencies thought to possess the ability to assist in the solution of these problems, they agreed almost unanimously on the extent to…

Compared adolescents (N=32) in a chemical dependency program with a control group of high school seniors (N=60). Results indicated a higher percentage of the treatment group came from one-parent families with lower socioeconomic status. These two factors may be important precipitations of drug abuse among adolescents. (RC)

Triadic interactions between mother, preschool-age first-born, and 14-month-old second-born siblings were studied in 40 families as part of a longitudinal study using home observations. Interaction between mother and second-born exerted an important influence on the behavior of the first-born. (Author/RH)

Reports results of several studies designed to ascertain how adolescents treat each other and how teachers treat adolescents in the high school. Variables investigated included sex, age, and birth order differences, as well as relationships of reported behaviors to academic achievement and self-concept. (Author/DB)

Research on social services for pregnant teenagers should provide more information about these clients and their needs as well as the services available to them. Constructive suggestions can then be offered to influence public policy. (JAC)

The confluence model of cognitive development was tested on 7,060 children. Family size, sibling order within family sizes, and hypothesized age-dependent effects were tested. Findings indicated an inverse relationship between family size and the cognitive measures; age-dependent effects and other confluence variables were found to be…