Children, Families and Youth   International Links

Updated January 21, 2010 Page révisée le 21 janvier 2010

Les enfants, les familles et les jeunes   Ressources internationales

Who Are America's Poor Children?
The Official Story
By Vanessa R. Wight, Michelle Chau, and Yumiko Aratani
January 2010

(463K, 8 pages)
More than 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 a year for a family of four. The number of children living in poverty increased by 21 percent between 2000 and 2008. There are 2.5 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000. Not only are these numbers troubling, the official poverty measure tells only part of the story. Research consistently shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to make ends meet. Children living in families with incomes below this level – for 2009, $44,100 for a family of four – are referred to as low income. Forty-one percent of the nation’s children – more than 29 million in 2008 – live in low-income families. Nonetheless, eligibility for many public benefits is based on the official poverty measure. This fact sheet – the first in a series focusing on economic and material hardship – details some of the characteristics of American children who are considered poor by the official standard.
Source:

NCCP is the nation’s leading public policy center dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and well-being of America’s low-income families and children. NCCP uses research to inform policy and practice with the goal of ensuring positive outcomes for the next generation. We promote family-oriented solutions at the state and national levels.

Related NCCP links:

(PDF - 930K, 60 pages)
By Michelle Chau
November 2009
After nearly a decade of decline, the number of children living in low-income families has increased significantly since 2000. This data book provides national and 50-state trend data on the characteristics of low-income children over the past decade: parental education, parental employment, marital status, family structure, race and ethnicity, age distribution, parental nativity, home ownership, residential mobility, type of residential area, and region of residence.

The most current year of data can also be accessed at www.nccp.org—see NCCP’s 50-State Demographic Profiles or build custom tables using NCCP’s 50-State Demographics Wizard. For a discussion of these data and selected policy implications, see NCCP’s fact sheets on low-income children, which are updated annually.

Links to 50 online resources - mostly American, but definitely relevant for Canadian social researchers - on marriage and family life.
The list covers a wide range of topics and philosophies from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to Marriage Equality USA (same-sex marriage).

Sample resources:
* Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership: Offers training, education, and research on abstinence for teenagers and parents to lead to healthy marriages.
* ChildCare.gov: Comprehensive resource covering: health, nutrition, safety, and development of children.
* Children's Defense Fund: Working to prevent poverty, neglect, and abuse among children and families.
* Council on Contemporary Families: Examine the cultural, social, and legal aspects of modern families; with fact sheets on same sex marriage, single fathers, and marriages among older adults.
* AdoptUsKids: Connecting families with children needing to be adopted or placed in foster care across the United States.
* Australian Institute of Family Studies: Publications and research dedicated to family wellbeing in Australia.
* Center for Disease Control and Prevention: The National Survey of Family Growth section, offers recent information on family life covering everything from pregnancy, marriage, and contraceptive use.
* Family Research Council: Focuses on the sanctity of the institute of marriage and family from a Christian worldview.
* Grandparenting: Showcases the importance of grandparents to the family structure and guidance for grandparents raising grandchildren.
* Marriage Equality USA: Organization devoted to promoting and advocating the benefits of civil marriage for same sex couples.
* National Domestic Violence Hotline: A resource for families looking to escape or prevent abuse.
* National Fatherhood Initiative: Equipping fathers with the skills needed to be involved in their children's lives.
* National Network for Child Care: This extensive list of research based articles and resources covers information on child development, special needs children, and finding caregivers.
* National Stepfamily Resource Center: Provides education, research, facts, and tips for dealing with blended families.

04 December, 2009
The study collects a range of information about children and their families including children’s academic ability, their health and emotional wellbeing, parenting, family functioning, early childhood care, and education and schooling. Since the study began in 2004, around 10,000 children and families have taken part in three main waves of interviews and three mail-out surveys.
[ - PDF ]
Source:

Published 17 June 2009
This report delivers the latest information on how, as a nation, we are faring according to key indicators of child health, development and wellbeing. Death rates among children have fallen dramatically, and most children are physically active and meet minimum standards for reading and numeracy. But it is not all good news. Rates of severe disability and diabetes are on the rise. Too many children are overweight or obese, or are at risk of homelessness, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children fare worse on most key indicators.
Source:
(AIHW)

, (PDF - 549K, 72 pages)
June 2009
This report is a review of the international evidence about the social benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC). It provides an analytic overview of the various rationales that drive the development of ECEC services. It summarizes existing knowledge from research and highlights policy lessons and measures that are shown to contribute to successful ECEC policy development and implementation.
- incl. references to Canada & U.S.
Source:
(Network of Experts in Social Sciences of Education and Training)
[ - Brussels ]

"Child poverty rates in Canada in 2005 were at the higher end of the OECD,
with 15% of children living in poor households versus an OECD average of 12.4%."

New from the
:

News Release
1 September 2009
Governments should invest more money on children in the first six years of their lives to reduce social inequality and help all children, especially the most vulnerable, have happier lives, according to the OECD’s first-ever report on child well-being in its 30 member countries. Doing Better for Children shows that average public spending by OECD countries up to age six accounts for only a quarter of all child spending. But a better balance of spending between the “Dora the Explorer” years of early childhood and the teenage “Facebook” years would help improve the health, education and well-being of all children in the long term, according to the report.

This link takes you to the main page of this OECD report.
I don't generally promote books for sale, but this report is worth spotlighting because it contains a lot of free resources, such as the complete content of two chapters and links to complementary info and sources, along with highlights for 12 countries (including Canada). Check it out - you may find that it's worth the $29 (E-book) or $42 (paper copy).

(PDF - 104K, 4 pages)

(PDF - 1.1MB, 43 pages)
Chapter Two presents a child well-being framework and compares outcome indicators for children in OECD countries across six dimensions: material well-being; housing and environment; education; health; risk behaviours; and quality of school life.

(PDF - 206K, 29 pages)
Chapter 7 offers a range of policy recommendations for improving child well-being.

(PDF - 117K, 1 page)
2009
"Canada receives solid marks in “Doing Better for Children”, the OECD’s first report on the well-being of children. But there are areas which may need policy attention to improve the lives of Canadian children, including reducing child poverty and youth risk-taking, and ensuring timely immunisations. (...) Child poverty rates in Canada in 2005 were at the higher end of the OECD, with 15% of children living in poor households versus an OECD average of 12.4%." [Bolding added]

- incl. dozens of links to : International Organisations - European Organisations - NGOs and International Research Projects - Government & Ministries - Statistical Offices - Universities

Related link:

UK's levels of teenage pregnancy, drunkenness and unemployment are among highest out of 30 countries
1 September 2009
Source:
(U.K)

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2009 continues a series of annual reports to the Nation on conditions affecting children in the United States. Three demographic background measures and 40 selected indicators describe the population of children and depict child well-being in the areas of family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. This year's report has a special feature on children with special health care needs.
[ ]
Source:

[ - the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (working group of Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families. The Forum has partners from 22 Federal agencies as well as partners in private research organizations) ]

Related link:

July 11, 2009
A growing number of American children are living in poverty and with unemployed parents, and are facing the threat of hunger, according to a federal report released yesterday. According to the report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 18 percent of all children 17 and younger were living in poverty in 2007, up from 17 percent in 2006. The percentage of children with at least one parent working full time was 77 percent in 2007, down from 78 percent in 2006. Those living in households where parents described children as being hungry, having skipped a meal or having gone without eating for an entire day increased from 0.6 percent in 2006 to 0.9 percent in 2007, the report said.
Source:

Health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children Well Below National Averages
News Release
June 24, 2009
Toronto - UNICEF Canada is marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child with the release today of a report called Aboriginal Children’s Health: Leaving No Child Behind- the Canadian Supplement to State of the World’s Children 2009. UNICEF Canada partnered with the National Collaborating Centre on Aboriginal Health to produce the report, which examines the health of Aboriginal children in Canada through the perspectives of national experts and analysis of existing data. The report concludes that health disparities between First Nations, Inuit and Métis children relative to national averages is one of the most significant children’s rights challenges facing our nation.

Aboriginal Children’s Health: Leaving No Child Behind:
The Canadian Supplement to State of the World’s Children 2009
* (PDF - 6.6MB, 61 pages)
* (PDF - 379K, 4 pages)
* (HTML)

[ ]

Source:

Since 1955, UNICEF Canada has grown into a recognized national symbol for the world’s children and the most visible United Nations presence across the country. UNICEF Canada’s mandate is to raise funds in support of UNICEF’s work for children in more than 150 countries and territories and build awareness among Canadians about the issues facing the world’s children.

---

Related link from UNICEF:

January 2009
"The State of the World's Children 2009 examines critical issues in maternal and newborn health, underscoring the need to establish a comprehensive continuum of care for mothers, newborns and children. The report outlines the latest paradigms in health programming and policies for mothers and newborns, and explores policies, programmes and partnerships aimed at improving maternal and neonatal health. Africa and Asia are a key focus for this report, which complements the previous year's issue on child survival."

[ - back to 1996]

Source:
(UNICEF)
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Related link:

By Amy Minsky, Canwest News Service
The infant mortality rate across Canadian First Nations reserves is up to seven times higher than among the general population, according to a report released Wednesday from UNICEF Canada. And between 2002 and 2006, the tuberculosis rate among the Inuit was 90 times higher than in the non-Aboriginal population in Canada, the study said. The report's authors said this disparity is a symptom of a larger problem — not all Canadian children are treated equally when it comes to health care.
Source:

Theme: "Mothers and Families: Challenges in a Changing World"

(PDF 19K, 1 page)
15 May 2009

- incl. links to Secretary General Reports and General Assembly Resolutions from 1987 to 2007

Source:

The United Nations Programme on the Family is the focal point within the United Nations system on matters related to family.

Related link:

(PDF - 128K, 1 page)
During the past century, countries around the world have seen remarkable changes in family structure and family dynamics. Whether it is fertility rates, trends in marriage and divorce, or new forms of co-habitation and household living arrangements, international comparisons help illuminate our similarities and differences.
Source:
(fact sheets)
[ ]

--------------------------------------------

Just released [11 Dec 08] by the :

[including Canada]
Innocenti Report Card #8
By Peter Adamson drawing on research by John Bennett
Publication date 11 Dec 08

* 1(report) - (PDF - 602K, 40 pages)
* (summary) - (PDF - this link was not working on Dec. 11)
*
"(...) Canada invests about 0.2 per cent GDP in early child care and education (for 0-6 years) according to the OECD Canada Review (2006). Investing in quality services available to all children who need them would cost about 1 per cent of GDP."

Background information:
*
*

Related resources:
* (incl. summary, other press material, background papers, etc.)

--------------------------------------------

Response from :

UNICEF Canada press release
Publication date 11 Dec 08

--------------------------------------------

* New Democrat Olivia Chow to send UNICEF card to Harper to highlight report of Canada missing the mark in childcare. 11 Dec 08
* UN report shows Conservatives’ failed childcare strategy: Canada ranks last among OECD countries. Liberal Party of Canada, 11 Dec 08
Source:

CRRU focuses on research and policy resources in the context of a high quality system of early childhood education and child care in Canada
NOTE: the links above are from the CRRU website, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre website and the UNICEF CAnada website

--------------------------------------------

From :

December 11 2008
Canada is tied for last place in a UNICEF ranking of the early child-care services offered by 25 developed countries. Canada failed to meet nine out of 10 of the proposed benchmarks UNICEF used to rank the countries. The 10 proposed benchmarks included parental leave of one year at 50 per cent or more of salary, a national plan with priority for the disadvantaged, and child poverty rates of less than 10 per cent.

December 2008
Save the Children UK has just launched a ground-breaking publication - The Child Development Index. This is the first-ever global index comparing countries' performance on child well-being. It uses child-specific indicators in health, education and nutrition to rank countries in every region of the world. It is a vital tool for policy-making and development analysis worldwide.

(PDF - 227K, 30 pages)
December 2008
"(...) we are highlighting three areas that warrant much more sustained attention and decisive action on the part of national governments, the international donor community, development
NGOs, and the private sector : child malnutrition, equitable development and women’s education and empowerment."
- Canada is third-best of 137 countries, after Japan and Spain.

Source:

We’re the world’s independent children’s rights organisation. We’re outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection and we’re determined to change this. Save the Children UK is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, transforming children’s lives in more than 100 countries.

What's new from the :

( PDF - 74K, 2 pages)
Media Release
September 17, 2008

(PDF - 1.2MB, 59 pages)
- examines a range of different measures to determine the economic security of children living in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Source:

Related links:

The Children in North America Project aims to highlight the conditions and well-being of children and youth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Through a series of indicator reports, the project hopes to build a better understanding of how our children are faring and the opportunities and challenges they face looking to the future.

Partners in the project:

(U.S.)
(U.S.)
(Mexico)

The Economics of Early Childhood Policy (U.S.)

[ ]
What, pray tell, might the so-called "dismal science" of economics have to say about public investment in early childhood programs? Quite a bit, as it turns out. This report from the RAND Corporation takes an economic perspective on such investments, and its intent is to provide policymakers with a primer about "how economic analysis can help set agendas for early childhood policy and identify the economics benefits of targeting certain groups for help." Released in May 2008, the 48-page report draws on concepts including human capital theory and monetary "payoffs" from investments in early childhood programs. The report is divided into four chapters, including "Human Capital Theory" and "Implications for Early Childhood Policy". It's quite a compelling read, and it will be of interest to a broad range of persons working in fields such as early childhood development, economics, and public policy.
Review by:
, Copyright Internet Scout Project .

Related links:

- home page
* - related research and reports

- from

News Release
[GENEVA, 22 January 2008] – Strategies that can help reduce the number of children who die before their fifth birthday were highlighted today, at the launch of UNICEF’s flagship report - The State of the World’s Children 2008: Child Survival – in Geneva. While recent data show a fall in the rate of under-five mortality, the State of the World’s Children Report 2008 goes beyond the numbers to suggest actions and initiatives that should lead to further progress.

Complete report:

(PDF file - 4.3MB, 164 pages)

Source:
(UNICEF)

What's new from CLASP (Center for Law and Policy - U.S.):

- this is a link to the CLASP What's New page; click the link if you wish to access any of the content below:
* Supporting Families, Nurturing Young Children: Early Head Start Programs in 2006
* Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care: Policy Framework Summary
* Child Care and Development Block Grant Participation in 2006
* Improving Access to Child Care and Early Education for Immigrant Families: A State Policy Checklist
* Selected State and Local Policies to Support Immigrant and Limited English Proficient (LEP) Early Care and Education Providers
* Campaign for Youth Mobilization Letter
* CLASP’s Breaking Down Barriers National Summit on Improving Access to Early Care and Education for Immigrant Families

Source:

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national nonprofit that works to improve the lives of low-income people. CLASP’s mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all.

New from the:

- January 4, 2008
Starting Strong Network website reports on network initiatives to develop effective and efficient policies for early childhood care and education.

The Network has received a mandate from the OECD Education Policy Committee to assist member countries to develop effective and efficient policies for early childhood care and education.
[ ]
Related links:

Report by OECD of four well-known ECEC curricula including Experiential Education by Professor Ferre Laevers.

News Release
November 29, 2007
Getting family-friendly policies right will help reduce poverty, promote child development, enhance equity between men and women and stem the fall in birth-rates, according to a new OECD report. Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life compares the different approaches that the 30 OECD countries take to help parents balance their work and family commitments.

Finding a suitable work/family life balance is a challenge that all parents face. Many parents and children in Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom are happy with their existing work and care outcomes. However, many others feel seriously constrained in one way or another, and their personal well-being suffers as a consequence.

(Excel format) from Babies and Bosses (Vol. 4): Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom

--------------

This book is part of the Babies and Bosses series, consisting of comparative studies of work and family reconciliation policies.
To get a more comprehensive picture of reconciliation policies, you can consult the first three volumes:
- (volume 1) , which was published in 2002
- (volume 2), which was published in 2003
- (volume 3), which was released in 2004

--------------

- click the link above for info about the activities listed below (incl. links to many key documents), or click a link below
* (employment-oriented)
* (ongoing)
*
* (ongoing)
*
*

Source:

By Ayana Douglas-Hall and Michelle Chau
Fact sheet
November 2007

(132K, 3 pages)
Despite low levels of unemployment,1 average household income has declined since 2000.2 The number of children living in low-income families has continued to rise. Programs that provide supports for low-income, working parents can increase income and child well-being. The majority of children in low-income families have parents who are employed full-time and year-round.

Source:

April 2007 (Published July 19, 2007)
This analysis compares the United States to the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These Anglophone countries share a common language, similar cultural heritage, as well as comparable political and economic cultures. The report assembles 19 key international indicators of child well-being within seven domains of social life.

(PDF file - 204K, 21 pages)

(Powerpoint presentation - 1MB)

(Powerpoint presentation - 4.9MB)

(Powerpoint presentation - 803K)

- back to 2004

Source:

[ ]

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Child Well-Being Index, Foundation for Child Development"

News search results page (no results)

Source:

By Jane Waldfogel
July 30, 2007
The former and newly installed British prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, are longstanding Labour Party rivals, yet they were able to unite in what history may one day view as their most important domestic achievement—a commitment to end child poverty in the United Kingdom.
(...)
Although most of the focus in the United Kingdom is on relative poverty, the government also tracks its progress using an absolute poverty line, similar to the one the United States uses. On this measure, the United Kingdom has reduced poverty by a stunning 50 percent since the start of its anti-poverty campaign—reducing the numbers of children in absolute poverty before housing costs from 3.4 million in 1999 to 1.6 million in 2006. From a U.S. vantage point, this is a remarkable achievement.
Source:

(Australia)
Paul Henman, Richard Percival and Ann Harding, Matthew Gray
Posted July 31, 2007
Commissioned by the Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support, this is a collection of three reports on the costs of children in Australian families: 'The estimated costs of children in Australian families in 2005–06'; 'Updated costs of children using Australian budget standards; and 'Costs of children and equivalence scales: a review of methodological issues and Australian estimates'.

Complete report:

(753K, 122 pages)

Related link:

Source:
<=== links to 18 papers
[ - Australia ]

Find more from
Find more articles on the topic
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News Release
July 25, 2007
BALTIMORE – National trends in child well-being taken together have improved slightly since 2000, according to a report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The 18th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book indicators show:
* Four areas of improvement: child death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, teens not in school and not working;
* Two areas of slight improvement: infant mortality rate, teen death rate; and
* Four areas have worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in families where no parent has fulltime year-round employment, children in poverty, and children in single-parent families.

- includes links to all related reports

(PDF file - 3.4MB, 196 pages)
(PDF file - 505K, 28 pages)

This system contains state-level data for over 100 measures of child well-being, including all the measures regularly used in our popular KIDS COUNT Data Book and The Right Start for America's Newborns. This easy-to-use, powerful online database allows you to generate custom reports for a geographic area (Profiles) or to compare geographic areas on a topic (Ranking, Maps, and Line Graphs).

- topics include : KIDS COUNT Data Book Indicators - RIGHT START Indicators - Children in Immigrant Families - Education - Employment and Income - Health - Health Insurance - Population and Family Characteristics - Poverty - Youth Risk Factors

Source:

KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the U.S. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children.
[
Founded in 1948, the primary mission of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. ]

New Report Links Food Insecurity to Maternal Depression,
Poor Parenting, and Overweight Toddlers
Press Release
July 12, 2007
Washington, DC – One in eight U.S. households with infants (12.5 percent) reports being “food insecure”, according to a new analysis by Child Trends. “Food insecure” is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.
- the brief also links food insecurity with maternal depression, poor parenting, and-paradoxically-overweight toddlers.

Related Research Briefing based on the report:

(PDF file - 178K, 6 pages)
By Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Ph.D., Martha Zaslow, Ph.D., Randolph Cappsa , Ph.D., and Allison Horowitz, B.A.
July 2007
"(...) This Research Brief is based on a forthcoming paper in the titled “Food Insecurity Works Through Depression, Parenting and Infant Feeding to Influence Overweight and Health in Toddlers,” co-authored by the same group as the research briefing."

Source:

Founded in 1979, Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center serving those dedicated to creating better lives for children and youth.

Related link from Child Trends:

"...the one-stop-shop for the latest national trends and research on over 100 key indicators of child and youth well-being, with new indicators added each month."
HINT: the best way to see the content in this databank is by clicking the "You may also search by: (Subgroup / Age / Alphabetically)" links immediately under the photos on the Child Trends home page.

(PDF file - 45K, 2 pages)
News Release
May 16, 2007
NEW YORK– In advance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s summit on early childhood development, the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), has released a new report, State Early Childhood Polices: Improving the Odds. The study finds unevenness and deficiencies across the 50 states in policies that affect the well-being and development of young children.

State Early Childhood Policies
Helene Stebbins and Jane Knitzer
June 2007
- HTML
(PDF file - 852K, 27 pages)
(PDF file - 418K, 6 pages)
(PDF file - 852K, 27 pages)
- HTML

Source:

State of the World's Mothers 2007:
Saving the Lives of Children Under 5

May 8, 2007— Save the Children, a U.S.-based independent global humanitarian organization, today released its eighth annual Mothers’ Index that ranks the best — and worst — places to be a mother and a child and compares the well-being of mothers and children in 140 countries, more than in any previous year.

Millions of Children Still Dying Each Year Despite Availability of Proven, Low-Cost Interventions that Could Save Their Lives

(PDF file - 2MB, 70 pages)
[Canada? Number 15.]

Every year, the State of the World's Mothers report reminds us of the inextricable link between the well-being of mothers and that of their children. Seventy-five years of on-the-ground experience has demonstrated that when mothers have health care, education and economic opportunity, both they and their children have the best chance to survive and thrive. Each year a different issue that impacts mothers and their children is highlighted.
- incl. links to annual reports for 2007 back to 2000

Source:

"Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world."

What's new from the :
[Child Trends Data Bank is "the one-stop-shop for the latest [U.S.] national trends and research on over 100 key indicators of child and youth well-being."]

Welfare Receipt Among Children under AFDC and TANF

(99K, 6 pages)
April 2007
Between 1996, the year in which federal welfare reform was implemented, and 2004, the number of children receiving benefits from welfare declined by more than half. This continued a downward trend that started after 1995. (...) After rising from 6.1 million children in 1970 to 9.5 million children in 19949, the number of children living in families receiving AFDC/TANF payments fell to 3.9 million children in 2004. Similarly, the percentage of children living in families receiving AFDC/TANF has steadily decreased from 13.0 percent in 1995 to 5.3 percent in 2004. Among children in families with incomes below the poverty threshold, the percentage of children in families receiving AFDC/TANF also decreased from 61.5 percent in 1995 to 29.8 percent in 2004.

NOTE: for a good two-page overview of TANF and AFDC, with links to more detailed info, see

- from the

Related Indicators:

-------

(5.3MB, 54 pages)
This is a large download, but well worth the wait for the amount of program information and welfare statistics going back to the 1960s...
Source:
Appendix A, Table TANF13,

By the

From the :

April 2007
By Taryn W. Morrissey, Patti Banghart
At some point during their first five years, nearly one-quarter of all children spend about 30 hours per week in family child care (FCC). While there is no universally recognized definition, FCC is typically characterized as nonparental, paid care for nonrelative children that generally takes place in the provider’s home and is regulated by the state.

This Review of Research package, which includes a Literature Review, a Research Brief, and a Table of Methods and Findings, synthesizes the current research on family child care providers, parental use of family child care, and quality of this type of care.

(PDF file - 661K)
(PDF file - 756K)
(PDF file - 878K)

News Release
April 12, 2007
The world's richest countries are failing to help millions of children in conflict-affected nations get an education, a new Save the Children report reveals today, ahead of a series of crucial world donor meetings. For example, in the Sudanese region of Darfur, over 50 percent of children are out of school, many forced from their homes due to violence, but almost no funding has been provided specifically to educate these children.

Complete report:

(PDF file - 425k, 64 pages)

Source:

Save the Children is the world’s largest independent organisation for children, making a difference to children’s lives in over 110 countries. From emergency relief to long-term development, Save the Children helps children to achieve a happy, healthy and secure childhood. Save the Children listens to children, involves children and ensures their views are taken into account. Save the Children secures and protects children’s rights – to food, shelter, health care, education and freedom from violence, abuse and exploitation.
---------
NOTE: On the home page of the international site, you'll find links to all 27 Save the Children Alliance country websites, including:
Australia - ( ) - Denmark - Dominican - Republic - Egypt - Fiji - Finland - Germany - Guatemala - Honduras - Iceland - Italy - Japan - Jordan - Korea - Lithuania - Mexico - Netherlands - New Zealand - Norway - Romania - Spain - Swaziland - Sweden - Switzerland - United Kingdom - (see )

News Release
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 15, 2007 -- Caught between ever-rising expenditures on adult health care and retirement programs and their own programs that often lack automatic growth, children will see their shares of federal domestic spending and the gross national product decline by double digits over the next decade, according to a report released today by the nonpartisan Urban Institute.

- trends in federal spending on children from 1960 to 2017, looking across over 100 major federal programs, including tax credits and exemptions.

Source:

What's New from the :

(PDF file - 64K, 2 pages)
Press Release
14 February 2007
"The six dimensions taken to measure the well- being of children – material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviours and risks, and young people’s own subjective sense of well-being – offer a picture of the lives of children, and no single dimension can stand as a reliable proxy for child well-being as a whole. The landmark report shows that among all of the 21 OECD countries there are improvements to be made and that no single OECD country leads in all six of the areas."

Complete report:

(PDF file - 1.5MB, 52 pages)
February 2007
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre Report Card 7

Companion document:

(PDF files - 778K, 117 pages)
Jonathan Bradshaw, Petra Hoelscher and Dominic Richardson
Innocenti Working Paper
December 2006

- includes links to the above release and report in French, Italian and Spanish, along with key findings and background papers

March 2005

Source:
works to strengthen the capacity of UNICEF and its cooperating institutions to respond to the evolving needs of children and to develop a new global ethic for children. It promotes the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in both developing and industrialized countries, thereby reaffirming the universality of children’s rights and of UNICEF’s mandate. [ ]

Another recent release from IRC:

February 14, 2007
A new United Nations study suggests Canada lags behind other industrialized nations when it comes to child welfare.
Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Development in Rich Countries, the seventh report from UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre, ranks Canada 12th overall for child well-being among 21 developed countries.
Source:

- U.S.
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Child Welfare Information Gateway connects professionals and concerned citizens to timely, essential information and resources targeted to the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families.

Source:

[ ]
[ ]

December 2006
The State of the World’s Children 2007 examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives – and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls.
- incl. links to all related material --- news release, full report, profiles, statistics, youth centre, Gender and the life cycle (multimedia feature), and more...

Press Release
11 December 2006
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 11 December 2006 – Eliminating gender discrimination and empowering women will have a profound and positive impact on the survival and well-being of children, according to a new UNICEF report issued on UNICEF’s 60th anniversary. Gender equality produces the “double dividend” of benefiting both women and children and is pivotal to the health and development of families, communities and nations, according to The State of the World’s Children 2007.

(PDF file - 697K, 44 pages)
(PDF file - 1.8MB, 160 pages)
(HTML table of contents + links to individual PDF files)
Chapters: A call for equality * Equality in the household * Equality in employment * Equality in politics and government * Reaping the double dividend of gender equality
- annual, back to 1996
[ Previous (2006) report - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading. ]

Source:

What's New - Selected content from the

5-Jan-07

FROM CRADLE TO CAREER: CONNECTING AMERICAN EDUCATION FROM BIRTH TO ADULTHOOD
11th annual Quality Counts publication from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (US) “begins to track state efforts to create seamless education systems from early childhood to the world of work.”

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: PATHWAYS TO QUALITY AND EQUITY FOR ALL CHILDREN
Report from Australian Council for Educational Research finds provision of child care services in Australia to be “insufficient, fragmented, under funded and inconsistent.”

PREPARING CULTURALLY COMPETENT EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS
Briefing note from FPG Child Development Institute (US) summarizes the study “Diversity competencies within early childhood teacher preparation: Innovative practices and future directions."

Childcare funding too low – developer [NZ]
The Marlborough Express, 27 Dec 0

Importance of early childhood education [US]
Paper of Montgomery County, 26 Dec 06

No guarantee of free childhood education hours [NZ]
Sunday Star Times, 17 Dec 06

Henry Wilson reports significant progress in early childhood education [JM]
Jamaica Information Service, 12 Dec 06

Keep scrolling down this page to see more content from CRRU.

"The 2005 WDI includes more than 800 indicators in 83 tables organized in 6 sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. Data are shown for 152 economies with populations of more than 1 million and 14 country groups, plus selected indicators for 56 other smaller economies. Indicators are shown for the most recent year or period for which data are available and, in most tables, for an earlier year or period (usually 1990 in this edition)."
- incl. links to the full text online, the press release, time series database access, and more

Source:

New Index Report Finds Virtually No Improvement In Reading
And Math Test Scores Since 1975; Obesity Epidemic Continues To Worsen
Press Release
March 30, 2005
"Washington, D.C. – Dramatic declines in rates of violence and risky behaviors such as teen births, smoking, and alcohol and illegal drug use during the past 10 years have contributed substantially to modest and slow progress in the overall well-being of America’s children, according to the 2005 Index of Child Well-Being (CWI), released today by the Foundation for Child Development (FCD)."

Complete report:

(PDF file - 79K, 17 pages)
"The 2005 CWI report presents a mixed picture of child well-being. Substantial and dramatic improvements in safety and risky behavior among young people, especially since 1993, contrast with declines in health and economic well-being and a 30-year flat line in education.

Source:

"Connecting Research with Policy to Promote Social Change since 1900"
- incl. links to: Press Release * Fact Sheet * Policy Brief * Fast Facts

Search Results : ""

New from the :

(PDF file - 65K, 2 pages)
Media Release
March 1, 2005
"FLORENCE– The proportion of children living in poverty since the early 1990s has risen in 17 out of 24 rich countries, a new report from UNICEF’s research centre said today. Although it is widely assumed that child poverty in rich countries is on a steady downward track, the report finds that in only four countries – Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States – has there been a significant decrease since the early 1990s."

Complete report:

(PDF file - 218K, 40 pages)
March 1, 2005
(PDF file - 114K, 4 pages)

- A Portrait of Child Poverty in Germany
- Child Poverty and Changes in Child Poverty in Rich Countries Since 1990
- Principles and practicalities for measuring child poverty in the rich countries
- The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Children in the European Union

Brief guide to best practices in defining and monitoring child poverty
Key findings

Source:
(this page includes links to Spanish, French and Italian versions of the all of the files above.)

January 21, 2005
"In September 2000, Maria Minna, Canada's Minister for International Cooperation, launched CIDA's Social Development Priorities: A Framework for Action. The framework refocuses the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on its poverty-reduction mandate by increasing investments over five years in health and nutrition, basic education, HIV/AIDS, and child protection, with gender equality as an integral part of all these priorities"
- incl. links to two dozen reports (from 1997 to 2004) on child protection, child participation, war-affected children, child laboour and sexually-exploited children.

Related Link:

Source:

What's New - from the

by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OECD Thematic Review of ECEC country note discusses key policy issues in Germany.

Herald Sun, 21 Jan 05
Thirteen thousand babies in Victoria, Australia will miss out on a child care place as desperate parents try signing-up before conceiving. Victoria's child care shortage has reached crisis proportions, with the majority of children on waiting lists never likely to get a place.

Related Link:

(PDF file - 409K, 28 pages)
December 2004
"A Special 25th Anniversary Report"
- incl. links to : Introduction - In the Beginning - Today at a Glance - Surveys and Indicators - Research Areas - Communications - Looking Ahead - Afterword - Child Trend Publications

Source:
December 15/04 Child Trends Newsletter

Child care and employer-provided health insurance help women stay on jobs
December 2004
by Sunhwa Lee
Report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (US) examines the career paths of low-income mothers; finds that mothers with stable child care arrangements stay on the job longer.

December 2004
by Lawrence J. Schweinhart
Latest report from the Perry Preschool project shows that the children who attended the program four decades ago continue to be more law-abiding, earn higher incomes, and have more stable home lives than children who were not enrolled in the program.

The Age, 5 Dec 04
Child care centres could face spot checks and have their performance graded as part of a tougher approach to regulating Australia's increasingly corporate child care industry.

- download the entire report in one PDF file, or download the chapters, maps and tables separately
Chapter titles:
Chapter 1. Childhood under threat
Chapter 2. Children living in poverty
Chapter 3. Children caught up in conflict
Chapter 4. Children orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS
Chapter 5. Advancing childhood, advancing humanity

Source:

Advertiser 1 Dec 04
Child care giant ABC Learning Centres is trying to disprove the economic theory that market competition improved services, a court has heard.

Guardian, 26 Nov 04
The largest ever survey of pre-school education in Britain comes just ahead of children’s minister Margaret Hodge’s release of a national childcare strategy which is expected to become a centrepiece of Labour's election strategy. It will call for a national network of children's centres providing education and health services for the under-fives.

Statesman Journal, 10 Nov 04
Privately held Knowledge Learning Corp. said that it will acquire Portland-based KinderCare in a deal worth $1 billion. The deal would combine two of the largest child-care-center operators in the U.S.

To view all of CRRU’s links visit:

Source:

Source:

"improving the lives of children and their families"

(PDF file - 100K, 38 pages)

Source:

[ ]

News Release
October 25, 2004
"OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Together with the governments of British Columbia , Saskatchewan , Manitoba , and Prince Edward Island , the Government of Canada welcomes the release of an important report on early childhood education and care in Canada . The Early Childhood Education and Care Policy: Canada Country Note was prepared by an international review team of early childhood education experts appointed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as part of the second round of the OECD’s Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy. The report presents observations and recommendations on a range of programs and services including kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, child care, and family services."
Source:

Complete Report:

Early Childhood Education and Care Policy
Canada Country Note
October 2004
(965K, 97 pages)
Source:

- OECD reviews of national early childhood policies and organisation in 18 countries: Australia, Belgium (two communities), Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States. Two countries remain to be reviewed in 2004: Austria and Germany.
- incl. links to : Update and Coming Events - History and Context of the Reviews - Documents from the OECD Thematic Review - Thematic Workshops and Documents - Background Reports - Country Notes - Country Profiles - Contacts - Useful Links

Source:

Related Links:

October 2004
"This policy analysis within an international framework is perhaps the most important that Canada has had in early learning and child care. The OECD Country Note and the Background Report on Canada were released today by Social Development Canada. The content and sprit of this work is likely to inform and shape how the federal election commitment to early learning and child care is actualized. For the release of this report, CRRU has prepared an ISSUE file that provides resources related to this landmark study.
The ISSUE file consists of:
- an overview of the OECD Thematic Review of ECEC
- links to the Country Note and Canada’s Background Report
- highlights from the Country Note recommendations
- other important reports from the Thematic Review of ECEC and related readings
- relevant news articles
- responses to the Canada reports"
Source:

October 25, 2004
By Margaret Philp
"(...) The review of Canada, one of 20 nations whose early-learning policies have come under OECD scrutiny, paints a picture of a child-care system adrift, with no overarching vision. It is underfunded, with pitiful staff salaries and subsidies inequitably doled out to a small number of the poorest families. The premises of child-care centres are often shabby, workers are poorly trained and frequently quit. Many centres catering to aboriginal families are low-quality with "tokenistic concessions to indigenous language." And waiting lists are long, with more than half of Canadian children stuck in unregulated care."
Source:

25 Oct 2004
"OTTAWA - A new OECD reports calls Canada's child-care system a patchwork of dismal programs that offers basic babysitting but not much more. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reviewed 20 countries. It said Canada's system was chronically under-funded and found subsidies inequitably distributed to a small number of the poorest families. As part of the report, four European investigators toured dozens of programs in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the only four provinces that agreed to be in the review. The report is to be released Monday."
Source:

(227K, 17 pages)
September 2004
By Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Fellow, and
Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
Source:

NOTE: for links to more information concerning the National Plan of Action for Canada's Children and those of other countries, go to the Children's Rights Links page of this site: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm

Complete report:

(PDF file - 124K, 46 pages)
August 2004
Source:

NOTE: The CDF website wasn't accessible when I went to find the report link on July 17.
Here's the CDF home page link - you might be luckier than I was...

(PDF file - 568K, 16 pages)

Source:

Related Link:

July 16, 2004
The Associated Press
"WASHINGTON - The family life, education and health of America''s children are generally improving, though child poverty has risen for the first time in a decade, according to the government''s broadest measure of children''s well-being. Today''s report by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics finds that children are doing better. The teenage birth rate is down, young people are less likely to be involved in violent crimes and the death rate for this group has declined. Still, children are more likely to be overweight than they were before and child poverty has inched up after several years of decline, according to the report, which draws together findings from many federal agencies."
Source:

Found in:
(June 07, 2004)
[ ]- France (English Home Page)

.............................................
Version française :

(fichier PDF - 850Ko., 151 pages)
La documentation française, 2004
(fichier PDF - 63Ko., 6 pages)

Source:

[ ]- France (English Home Page)

Related Links:

Work and Pensions - First Report
January 2004

- 137K, 17 pages)

- links to dozens of Work and Pensions Committee reports from 1997 to date

Source:

"The Work and Pensions Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to 'examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Work and Pensions and its associated public bodies.'"
[ ]
London

Also from NCCP:

- "A Comprehensive Resource for Researchers and Policy Makers" - U.S.
National Center for Children in Poverty Launches NEW Child Care and Early Education Web Site
April 2004
"Designed for researchers and policymakers. Built on a relational database:
* searchable research collection
* data sets for secondary analysis
* specially designed syntheses
* 50-state policy data tool."

(PDF file - 500K, 96 pages)

Source:

[part of the , University of Toronto]

Related Links:

[ ]

Source:

Related Links

(PDF file - 166K, 27 pages) - United Kingdom
December 2003
(background info)

- series of annual reports (starting in 1999) with detailed information about the U.K. Government strategy against poverty and social exclusion
set out "evidence-based strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion. The report also established indicators of progress to audit the effectiveness of this strategy."
Here's a link to the current report:


Written Evidence ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 January 2004.
- incl. links to over 35 submissions providing comprehensive, detailed information on child poverty and poverty measurement in the United kingdom from over 35 individuals and organizations. Presenters include the Association of London Government, the Citizen's Income Trust, Save the Children, the End Child Poverty Campaign, the Northern Ireland Anti Poverty Network, CARE, the Disability Alliance, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the Child Poverty Action Group, the Department for Work and Pensions, Daycare Trust and many more.
Recommended reading!

Related Links:
- Go to the Canadian Social Research Links Poverty Measures page

"The Promoting Resilient Development in Children Receiving Care conference will provide an opportunity to take stock of the accomplishments of the Looking After Children initiative and to explore how its multiple links with the burgeoning areas of resilience theory and research may be strengthened through assessment, intervention and outcome monitoring. (...) The Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare and the Child Welfare League of Canada have developed a series of National Child Welfare Symposia to contribute to the development of research and practice with children and families and to the transfer of knowledge among Canadian stakeholders. (...) It will bring together researchers, practitioners, out-of-home care providers, youth in care and policy makers to explore strategies for promoting resilience among children and youth involved in child welfare."

- includes a description of the International Looking After Children Initiative and the Canadian National Child Welfare Symposia
- includes downloadable registration forms (as well as online registration) for the conference, and information about accommodations, incl. downloadable reservation forms
- incl. schedule and speakers (more info will be added to this section in April)

Source:
[ ]

Complete book online:
(PDF file - 3.7MB, 550 pages)

Related Links:

-

For more links to poverty measures and indicators, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Poverty Measures page.

(PDF file - 340K, 16 pages)
Feature articles:
- Role reversal: Child poverty in Australia and Britain
- Child Protection in China
- Australian Social Policy Conference
[also includes book reviews, "From the Projects", new publications and "From the Research Scholars"]

"Older" links from the University of New South Wales:

9-11 July 2003

===>72 full-text papers available! (mostly from Australia, but some from England and a few from Europe)
Here are just a few samples:

(PDF file - 185K, 32 pages)
Jonathan Bradshaw, Naomi Finch and Tony Eardley
- July 2001data from 22 countries, including Canada

(PDF file - 136K, 23 pages)
Peter Saunders
The Centre for Independent Studies
- interesting presentation on Australian welfare reform, covers a lot of issues of relevance to social policymakers here in Canada:
Welfare and Australian values - How welfare undermines self-reliance - Do taxpayers want to fund higher welfare spending? - Reforming welfare - Reforming Parenting Payment: Encouraging return to work when children start school - Reforming the Disability Pension: Tightening eligibility - Reforming Unemployment Benefits: Time limits - Are there enough jobs for people coming off welfare to do? - Looking longer-term: A possible move to Individual Accounts? - Conclusion: reducing welfare dependency.

"The State of the World’s Children 2004 focuses on girls’ education and its relationship to all other development goals and to the promise of Education For All. It presents a multi-layered case for investing in girls’ education as a strategic way to ensure the rights of both boys and girls and to advance a country’s development agenda. The web summary touches on general points of the main text and presents panel abstracts highlighting successful programmes."
- links to individual chapters, appendices, tables, maps and figures
(PDF file - 3.35MB, 156 pages)

Press release
December 11, 2003

Source:

Related Links:

- what Canada (through CIDA) is doing about girls' education in the world

Source:

.......................................................................................................................................................................

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project .

Recent Report from UNICEF Details Importance of Education

65 Million Girls Denied Education

UN: Girls’ Education a Global Emergency

Education of Girls Key to Development in Poor Countries, says UNICEF [RealOnePlayer]

UNICEF: The State of the World’s Children [pdf]

United Nations Millennium Development Goals

African Virtual University

.......................................................................................................................................................................

(PDF file - 634K, 131 pages)
Robert A. Moffitt et al.
Working Paper 03-03
November 2003
Current American welfare reform research efforts tend to focus on families who have left welfare (“leavers”) and those who have remained on the rolls (“stayers”).
This study looks at non-entrants, a group that includes "...families who have never thought about applying for TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] and are self-sufficient without welfare, but also families who have thought about applying but have not for some reason, and families who have applied and have not come onto the welfare rolls either because they were rejected, diverted, or withdrew from the application process."

Source:

"This research project is an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio to better understand the effects of welfare reform on the well-being of children and families and to follow these families as welfare reform evolves. We will investigate the strategies used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. We will also examine the effects of these strategies on children's lives, with an emphasis on their health and development as well as their need for, and use of, social services."
- incl. longitudinal surveys, embedded development studies, and contextual, comparative ethnographic studies.

- links to over two dozen related working papers and studies back to June 1998

50+ links to UN and related resource for children, including :Unicef programs, Children's Rights, the State of the World's Children, 2003, Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women), Unicef & the Global Movement for Children, United Nations Special Session on Children, Children and the UN, A World Fit for Children, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Unesco - World Bank - international children's resources - much more...
Source:
(United Nations)

October 2003
"Analyzing rich data from in-depth ethnographic interviews conducted in Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, Next Generation researchers documented the challenges that low-income families face as they patch together a variety of arrangements to meet their child care needs. Unregulated or minimally regulated informal care typically plays a central role in these families’ patchworks of care, meeting some families’ needs very well but representing inadequate or unsafe arrangements of last resort for many others."
Related Link:
- "...draws data and perspectives from 10 rigorous studies conducted by MDRC, including (...) Canada’s Self-Sufficiency Project."

(PDF file - 127K, 4 pages)
April 2003
"This short paper explores the meaning of childhood poverty through examining its causes and identifying groups vulnerable to extreme poverty. This accessible paper demystifies terms and definitions and also highlights the importance of specific policy measures to adequately address the devastating effects of poverty suffered by children and young people."

Related Links:

-
-

(Save the Children's on-going campaign to tackle the causes of poverty)

(U.K.) - fighting the injustice of poverty

by by Sharon Parrott and Nina Wu
June 3, 2003
"More than 35 states have made cuts in programs funded with TANF and child care block grant funds, and most of these cuts are in programs that promote the goals of welfare reform."
- Highlights page, incl. links to the press release and the complete report
Source :(U.S.)

New KIDS COUNT report shows state-by-state progress; highlights hidden obstacles to financial security
Press Release
June 11, 2003
"WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report shows nationwide improvement on eight of 10 indicators of child well-being, corresponding with a period that saw a higher participation of parents in the workforce. The report cautions, however, that many of these working parents face unrecognized obstacles that jeopardize the financial progress of their families and the continued improvement of outcomes for their kids. The 14th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book released today reports that while national trends in child well-being have been positive, there is still wide variation among states along several critical indicators."

This is a HUGE annual collection of statistics about child well-being in the U.S.An online database allows you to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles or download the entire data set as delimited text files. Use the pull-down menus (called "Data Bank Shortcuts") on each page to make navigation easier.

- incl. links to summary pages for each of the indicators used in this annual study: Percent Low-Birthweight Babies - Infant Mortality Rate - Child Death Rate - Rate of Teen Deaths by Accident, Homicide, and Suicide - Teen Birth Rate - Percent of Teens Who Are High School Dropouts - Percent of Teens Not Attending School and Not Working - Percent of Children Living in Families Where No Parent Has Full-Time, Year-Round Employment - Percent of Children in Poverty - Percent of Families With Children Headed by a Single Parent

(PDF file - 582K, 24 pages)
May 2003
"This 2003 Kids Count Data Book essay analyzes the growing problem of predatory pricing and wealth-stripping faced by low-income working families, draining resources that are needed by their children. The Casey Foundation offers a number of solutions to the largely-ignored issue of the high costs of being poor in America."

Source:

(project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation), is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children.
(U.S.)
The Casey Family Program provides an array of services for children and youth, with foster care as its core. Casey services include adoption, kinship care (being cared for by extended family), guardianship and family reunification (reuniting children with birth families). 

May 23 to 27, 2003
Longueuil, Québec
"...deliberations about the impact of globalization and neoliberalism on family policies "
This conference is organized jointly by:
[website in French only], an organization grouping municipalities involved in family policies and active throughout the Province of Québec, andtheWorld Family Organization(WFO), North American Chapter. The World Family Organization is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) bringing together governments, research institutes and community organizations which purport to help families. The organization has a Category “A” consultative status with the United Nations

Two links found in the February 2003 issue of the monthly():

"NCWD/Youth is your source for information about employment and youth with disabilities. Our partners - experts in disability, education, employment, and workforce development - strive to ensure you will be provided with the highest quality, most relevant information available."

"NICHCY is the national information center that provides information on disabilities and disability-related issues. Anyone can use our services - families, educators, administrators, journalists, students. Our special focus is children and youth (birth to age 22)."

July 2002
"America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2002, developed by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, is the sixth annual synthesis of information on the status of the Nation's most valuable resource, our children. This report presents 24 key indicators of the well-being of children. These indicators are monitored through official Federal statistics covering children's economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education."
[For previous editions (back to 1997), scroll to the bottom of the 2002 repor

(IFCW)
"The International Forum for Child Welfare (IFCW) is an international nongovernmental organization (INGO) established (1989) in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Its members are national organizations and professional associates that provide direct or indirect service to children worldwide. The IFCW is in consultative status to the United Nations."

(U.S.)
April 2002
"The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, also called "The Survey of New Parents," follows a birth cohort of (mostly) unwed parents and their children over a four-year period. The study is designed to provide new information on the capabilities and relationships of unwed parents, as well as the effects of policies on family formation and child wellbeing. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study is a joint effort by Princeton University's Center for Research on Child Wellbeing and Columbia University's Social Indicators Survey Center."
Public Use Data- (Click on "Data" at the top of the Fragile Families home page)
(Free registration)
"Currently, registered users can download Fragile Families baseline data for both mothers and fathers in the 20-city sample. We expect to release 12-month follow-up data in the spring of 2003 and 30-month data in the fall of 2004. Baseline interviews for the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study were conducted in 75 hospitals in 20 cities across the United States."
Related Links:
(CRCW)
"CRCW conducts research on children's health, education, income, and family structure. (...) Our goal is to promote basic research on children's wellbeing and to link research to public policy."
(SIS Center)
The SIS Center conducts research on inequality and survey methodology. Our mission is to provide unique data sources for the analysis of social problems, to provide teaching resources for Columbia University students, and to provide useful knowledge to social service administrators, planners, and policy makers in New York City and elsewhere.

-"dedicated to improving the lives of children and families by providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects children"
Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies children, youth, and families through research, data collection, and data analysis.

- some are free PDF files, others you must order. Organized under the following headings: Welfare & Poverty - Adolescent Sexual Behavior - Indicators and Statistical Profiles - Fatherhood - Childrens Health - Early Childhood - Public Policy - Education - Youth Development - Family Strengths - Marriage/Family - Urban Issues

NOTE: Click on the above link for research briefs under the following headings :
- Adolescent Sexual Behavior
- Child Abuse, Neglect, and Family Violence
- Children's Health
- Early Childhood Education
- Family Strengths
- Fatherhood
- Indicators and Statistical Profiles
-Marriage/Family
- Research Methodologies and Measurements
- Public Policy
- Urban Issues
- Welfare and Poverty
- Youth Development

(PDF file - 76K, 6pages)
Research Brief
February 2003
"...suggests five purposes that social indicators can serve: description, monitoring, setting goals, increasing accountability, and “reflective practice. (...) Generally speaking, social indicators make poor tools for formal, scientific evaluations of programs, policies, and persons. Traditionally, the role of social indicators in evaluations has been rather limited, functioning as “miners’ canaries” to identify policies or programs that may be particularly promising (or unpromising) and deserving of formal evaluation using more rigorous techniques. At the same time, social indicators can often complement information derived from other types of research, together providing a stronger composite picture of the effects of a program or policy."

(PDF file - 158K, 8 pages) - U.S.
November 14, 2002
"This research brief brings together 2001 Census data to present a statistical portrait of children in poverty in the United States, updating a similar brief Child Trends produced in 1999. It highlights some of the consequences of poverty for children and considers promising program and policy approaches."


"Tired of seaching multiple web sites for data and information on children, youth and families? Visit Child Trends' one-stop shop for the latest trends in child and
youth well-being."
- over 70 key indicators of child and youth well-being, with new indicators added each month

Welfare and Poverty Research Briefs fromChild Trends
(March 2002) - (PDF file - 191K, 8 pages)
(December 2001) - (PDF file - 76K, 6 pages)
(August 2001) - (PDF file - 436K, 6 pages)
(July 2001) - (PDF file - 80K, 8 pages)
(May 2001) - 466K, 6 pages
March 2002 - (PDF file - 190K, 8 pages)

- "Guidance for Grownups"(U.S.)
"An alternative news source on the Web, Connect for Kids provides solutions-oriented coverage of critical issues for children and families.

May 30, 2002
"Several of the key pieces of federal legislation that weave the safety net for low-wage families—the welfare-to-work Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants, Food Stamps, the Child Care Development Block Grant and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act —will be up for reauthorization in 2002. At the same time, the federal government will be facing severe budget constraints and most states will be making hard decisions affecting their education and social services budgets that serve vulnerable families.Add to this a hot election year..."

(CCHD) - America's Forgotten State
"For more than 31 million Americans, every day is a bitter struggle to survive with the least. They are America's poor, left behind on the road to prosperity. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has created this site to raise awareness about poverty and help close the borders of this forgotten state."
- Go to thewebsite

Source :

Related Link:

(PDF file - 19K)
MONEE is"a UNICEF project to monitor the impact on children of the tremendous social and economic transition taking place in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. (...) The MONEE Project provides a unique source of information on the social impact of the transition years. It has made a major contribution to the international debate on the directions of public policy, drawing attention to emerging issues for children, women and families across the region and keeping the interests of children on the agenda."

(1999) - (PDF File, 468K - 90 pages)
UNICEF International Child Development Centre
- Estimates of patterns of child income poverty in 25 nations -including Canada -using data from the
Released in 1999, but most statistical tables and charts date back to 1995 and 1996.
Incl. The Measurement of Child Poverty - Income, Consumption and Saving - The Poverty Threshold and Counting Methods - Child Income Poverty Across Nations - Three Measures of Child Poverty - and much more.

"Crafted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Kids Count Data Book is a yearly publication that illuminates the status of America’s children by providing data on the "educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children" all across the U.S. By updating the book annually, viewers can assess the changes that have or have not been made by individual states and the nation at large. The report is divided into sections including graphs and color coded maps; profiles, which provides data on individual states or the nation as a whole; rankings, which contains data on all 50 states ranked according to an indicator; raw data, which allows downloading of the entire data book as "delimited files"; and PDF files, which allows downloading and printing of the data book using Adobe Acrobat. Those wanting a hard copy of the book can order a free copy from the home page."
Reviewed by:
- Copyright Internet Scout Project

Related Links:

(project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation), is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children.

The Casey Family Program provides an array of services for children and youth, with foster care as its core. Casey services include adoption, kinship care (being cared for by extended family), guardianship and family reunification (reuniting children with birth families). 

(U.S.)
Updated: October 2001
KIDS COUNT has compiled indicators of child well-being released by the 2000 U.S. Census into an interactive online database offering easily readable summary profiles of data on Age and Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Living Arrangements for the U.S., States, Counties, Congressional Districts, Cities, Metropolitan Areas, and New England Towns.

February 2001
Data drawn from birth certificates track eight key indicators of well-being in the 50 states as well as the top 50 cities. Use our interactive online database to view profiles, graphs, maps, rankings, and more.

On the home page, you'll find links to content under the following headings:
Meeting Children's Needs - Preventing Poverty - Advocating for Children - Engaging Faith Communities
(the home page also includes links to : About CDF - Events - - - Webstore - Donations

(under Preventing Poverty)
"The CDF Benefits Outreach project is a national initiative to ensure that children and poor working families receive tax insurance, income, health insurance, and other benefits for which they are eligible. The goal is to use a range of existing federal and state programs to lift children and their families out of poverty."
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- An estimated three million families with children — about 15 percent of the total eligible families — did not receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2001
- Nearly 612,000 — about 25 percent of — low-income taxpayers with children did not claim the new refundable Child Tax Credit in 2001
- Almost six million children in America lack health insurance, despite living in families eligible in most states for Medicaid or the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
- More than 3.4 million children did not receive food stamps in 2000, despite living in families with incomes low enough to qualify
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- Recommended reading!
November 2003
(PDF file - 154K, 4 pages)
April 2003
(PDF file - 131K, 1 page)
November 2003

- incl. * The Promise Letter * State of Our Nation's Youth * Report to the Nation * President’s Summit Declaration * Strategy Series Library * Annual Report * Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities * Becoming a College or University of Promise * Faith in the Five Guide * Schools of Promise brochure * Creating Communities of Promise * The Power of Five

Also from the Institute for Fiscal Studies:

(PDF file; 485K, 31 pages)
Updated November 2001
"This paper describes the main components of the current UK tax system, the revenue raised from different taxes, and discusses how the tax system has changed over the last twenty years."

(PDF file - 1250K, 57 pages)
Updated October 2002
"This paper describes all the main benefits in the UK system, giving details of rates and allowances, as well as numbers and types of claimants and levels of expenditure."