The Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families of the House of Representatives, 100th Congress, held a hearing to review financial pressures likely to confront American families in the future. Experts' testimony first focused on: (1) recent trends in the economic status of children; (2) the issue of whether the growth of the service sector of the economy contributes to the decline of the status of the middle class; and (3) changes in job policies that have resulted in declines in income and the middle class, increases in poverty, and the basic inability of families to meet financial needs. Discussion identified the need for specific information on why people work part-time, how many would work full-time if possible, and how day care affects the ability to work full-time or part-time. (Such information is provided in the text in reprints of articles and survey data.) Subsequent testimony reported trends in the demand for and supply of child care, cost of child care between 1975 and 1985, college costs and ability to pay for college, and health insurance coverage among children and families with children. Testimony also reported on historical changes in housing policy and what can be done to help families who are inadequately housed. Concluding testimony concerned the role of the federal government in addressing family problems. (RH)