Canadian Social Research Links

Children, Families and Youth  
International Links

[kids]

Updated January 27, 2008
Page révisée le 27 janvier 2008

Sites de recherche sociale au Canada

Les enfants, les familles et les jeunes  
Ressources internationales


[ Go to Canadian Social Research Links Home Page ]

Related Canadian Social Research Links pages:
- Early Learning and Child Care in Canada - Canadian NGO Links
- Early Learning and Child Care in Canada - Canadian Govt. Links
- Children, Families and Youth - Canadian Government Links
-
Children, Families and Youth - Canadian NGO Links
- Children's Rights Links page - incl. Canada’s National Plan of Action for Children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Special Session on the Rights of the Child), and related sites
- Unofficial Social Union Links Page (national)
- Unofficial Provincial/Territorial Social Union Links Page
See these related outside sites also...
- The (official) Social Union website
- The National Child Benefit website

POVERTY DISPATCH - U.S. (current issue)
Institute for Research on Poverty - U. of Wisconsin
- dozens of
links to full-text articles in the U.S. media (mostly daily newspapers) on poverty, health, welfare reform, education, hunger, etc.
- includes a link to older issues of the Dispatch

NOTE: on the American Non-Government Social Research Links (A-J) page of this site, you'll find links to weekly digests back to August 2005 - just follow the link in the box near the top of the page.


Links are added to this page in reverse chronological order, with the most recent at the top...

The State of the World's Children 2008
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:

State of the World's Children 2008 (PDF file - 4.3MB, 164 pages)

Source:
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

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

January 11, 2008
- 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:
Center for Law and Social Policy
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 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development:

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

Starting Strong Network
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.
[ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD ]
Related links:
OECD Early Childhood Education and Care Home Page

Starting Strong curricula and pedagogies in early childhood education and care: Five curriculum outlines
Report by OECD of four well-known ECEC curricula including Experiential Education by Professor Ferre Laevers.

Improved childcare policies needed to achieve better work/life balance, says OECD
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.

Babies and Bosses - Reconciling Work and Family Life:
A Synthesis of Findings for OECD Countries

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

Key Outcomes of Canada compared to OECD average

Selected Tables and Charts (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:
- Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands (volume 1) , which was published in 2002
- Austria, Ireland and Japan (volume 2), which was published in 2003
- New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland (volume 3), which was released in 2004

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

Main OECD Social Policy Activities in 2006-2007
- click the link above for info about the activities listed below (incl. links to many key documents), or click a link below
* Family Policies (employment-oriented)
* Making Work Pay (ongoing)
* Policies to support and integrate the disabled of working age
* Pension system monitoring (ongoing)
* Development of social indicators
* Income Distribution and Poverty

Source:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Most Low-Income Parents Are Employed
By Ayana Douglas-Hall and Michelle Chau
Fact sheet
November 2007
HTML version
PDF version
(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:
National Center for Children in Poverty

2007 Child Well-Being Index (CWI) Special Focus Report on International Comparisons
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.

Child Well-Being Index 2007 Report (PDF file - 204K, 21 pages)

Key Indicator Figures by Race/Ethnicity (Powerpoint presentation - 1MB)

Indicator Figure List Presentation (Powerpoint presentation - 4.9MB)

Child Well-Being Index 2007 Presentation (Powerpoint presentation - 803K)

Earlier editions of this report - back to 2004

Source:
Child Well-Being Index
[ Foundation for Child Development ]

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"
Web search results page
News search results page
(no results)
Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

 

Investing in Our Children: The U.S. Can Learn From the U.K.
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:
Center for American Progress

Noteworthy:

A Comparison of Child Benefit Packages in 22 Countries
October 2002
-
tax allowances, cash benefits, exemptions from charges, subsidies and services in kind, which assist parents with the costs of raising children.
- an investigation of variations in the structure and level of this package in 22 countries as at July 2001.
- includes Canada...
-Nine PDF files include the complete report (in two files), plus the table of contents, appendices, references, a list of other reports and a summary of the child benefit package for each of the 22 countries.
Source:
U.K. Department for Work and Pensions

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

Ditto:

Federal Expenditures on Children: 1960-1997 - U.S.
April 2001
"This paper provides the most comprehensive examination ever made of trends in federal spending, including tax subsidies, on children. (...) Some 66 federal programs are classified within eight major budget categories: tax credits and exemptions (including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the dependent exemption), income security (including Aid to Families with Dependent Children), nutrition (including Food Stamps), health (including Medicaid), education, housing, social services, and training.1 Children are defined as individuals 18 years of age or younger." [Source: Executive Summary]
HTML version - includes the executive summary
PDF version (243K, 25 pages)
Source:
The Urban Institute

 

Costs of children (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:
HTML
PDF
(753K, 122 pages)

Related link:

Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support

Source:
Occasional Paper Series <=== links to 18 papers
[ Department of Families,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
- Australia ]

Find more from Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Find more articles on the topic Families and households
Find more articles on the topic Income, poverty and wealth
Browse the complete departmental publications list

2007 KIDS COUNT Data Book Shows Slipping Economic Conditions for Children,
Focuses on the Critical Importance of Lifelong Family Connections for Youth in Foster Care

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.

2007 KIDS COUNT main page - includes links to all related reports

Complete report (PDF file - 3.4MB, 196 pages)
Summary and Findings (PDF file - 505K, 28 pages)

State-Level Data Online
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).

Compare states by topic
- 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
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.

[ Annie E. Casey Foundation
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. ]

One in Eight U.S. Households with Infants is Food Insecure
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:

Food Insecurity and Overweight among Infants and
Toddlers: New Insights into a Troubling Linkage
(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 Journal of Nutrition 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:
Child Trends
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:

Child Trends DataBank
"...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.

State policies Ignore Research on Healthy Child Development:
Leading National Organization Releases Report on Policies for Young Children
(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
Executive Summary - HTML
Complete report (PDF file - 852K, 27 pages)
National Profile (PDF file - 418K, 6 pages)
Full Set of State Profiles (PDF file - 852K, 27 pages)
State Early Childhood Policy Profiles - HTML

Source:
National Center for Children in Poverty

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

A Mothers Day Report Card: The Best And Worst Countries to Be a Mother
Sweden tops list, Niger ranks last, United States ranks 26th, tied with Hungary
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.

Egypt Makes the Most Progress and Iraq the Least In Reducing Child Deaths, Report Finds
Millions of Children Still Dying Each Year Despite Availability of Proven, Low-Cost Interventions that Could Save Their Lives

Special Features from the Report

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

State of the World's Mothers Reports
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
"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:
[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
HTML version
PDF version
(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
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) / Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF)
- from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Related Indicators:

Food Stamp Receipt

Long-term Poverty

Long-Term Welfare Dependence

-------

AFDC/TANF State and Local Estimates (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,
Indicators of Welfare Dependence Annual Report to Congress 2006
By the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

From the National Center for Children in Poverty:

Family Child Care in the United States
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 Child Care & Early Education Research Connections 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.

Research Brief (PDF file - 661K)
Literature Review (PDF file - 756K)
Table of Methods and Findings (PDF file - 878K)

Half of the world's out-of-school population live in conflict affected fragile states
Children in Areas of Conflict Get Little Help for Education, New Report Shows
Only 2 of 22 Rich Countries Have Met 2005 G8 Summit Pledges
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:

Last in Line, Last in School:
How donors are failing children
in conflict-affected fragile states
(PDF file - 425k, 64 pages)

Source:
International Save the Children Alliance
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 - Canada ( Publications ) - 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 - United States (see Child Poverty in America)

Federal Resources for Children Challenged
by Automatic Growth in Adult Entitlement Programs

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.

Kids’ Share 2007: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget
- trends in federal spending on children from 1960 to 2017, looking across over 100 major federal programs, including tax credits and exemptions.

Source:
The Urban Institute

What's New from the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre:

Child Poverty in Perspective :
An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries
(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:

Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries -
A comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents
in the economically advanced nations
(PDF file - 1.5MB, 52 pages)
February 2007
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre Report Card 7

Companion document:

Comparing Child Well-Being in OECD Countries: Concepts and Methods (PDF files - 778K, 117 pages)
Jonathan Bradshaw, Petra Hoelscher and Dominic Richardson
Innocenti Working Paper
December 2006

Innocenti Report Card 7
- includes links to the above release and report in French, Italian and Spanish, along with key findings and background papers

Innocenti Report Card no. 6
Child poverty rising in OECD countries
March 2005

Source:
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) 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. [ About IRC ]

Another recent release from IRC:

Canada ranked 12th out of 21 rich nations for child welfare
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:
CBC.CA

Child Welfare Information Gateway - 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:
Children's Bureau
[ Administration for Children and Families ]
[ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ]

The State of the World’s Children 2007
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...

Empower Women to Help Children
Gender Equality Produces a ‘Double Dividend’ that Benefits Both Women and Children, UNICEF Reports
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.

Executive Summary (PDF file - 697K, 44 pages)
Full report (PDF file - 1.8MB, 160 pages)
Download the report by chapter (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
View previous issues of this report - annual, back to 1996
[ Previous (2006) report - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading. ]

Source:
UNICEF

What's New - Selected content from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

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.”
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94494

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.”
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94493

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."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94492

Childcare funding too low – developer [NZ]
The Marlborough Express, 27 Dec 0
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94488

Importance of early childhood education [US]
Paper of Montgomery County, 26 Dec 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94491

No guarantee of free childhood education hours [NZ]
Sunday Star Times, 17 Dec 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94489

Henry Wilson reports significant progress in early childhood education [JM]
Jamaica Information Service, 12 Dec 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=94486

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

National Center for Children in Poverty
December 14, 2006 Update
As 2006 draws to a close, many are predicting that the economy in 2007 will be shaky at best.
Unfortunately, Who Are America's Poor Children? The Official Story reveals that nearly 13 million children already live in families with income below the official poverty measure. Worse, it is widely agreed that the poverty measure understates the true extent of economic hardship.

WHO ARE AMERICA'S POOR CHILDREN? THE OFFICIAL STORY

NCCP's new fact sheet finds that 18% of children live in families that are officially considered poor.
Who Are America's Poor Children? The Official Story
- describes the characteristics of children who are officially poor and identifies public policy strategies for improving the well-being of children and families.

Key findings include:
* Across the states, child poverty rates range from 7% in New Hampshire to 27% in Mississippi.
* Poverty is especially prevalent among black, Latino, and American Indian children.
* Official poverty rates are highest for young children.

Read the fact sheet

Subscribe to NCCP Update
- provides subscribers with periodic mailings (once or twice a month) on our new publications, research activities, and online tools.
To see our past mailings, check out the archive (14 previous issues as at Dec. 17/06).

Source:
National Center for Children in Poverty

What's New from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP):

Child Care and Early Education State-by-State Data - U.S.
November 16, 2006
This set of state-by-state data includes new analysis of 2005 child care spending from Child Care Development Block Grant and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds and of 2005 Head Start Program Information Report data, along with data (published in March 2006) on states’ use of community-based child care to provide pre-kindergarten.

Child Care Assistance in 2005: State Cuts Continue (PDF file - 78K, 9 pages)
November 1, 2006
State spending on child care assistance declined in 2005 for the second consecutive year. Twenty-two states made cuts to their child care programs, as the number of children living in low-income families that received help from these programs continued to decline. Many families turn to child care assistance programs to get help paying for the child care they need in order to work and to succeed. This policy brief provides an overview of national expenditure data for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds directed towards child care. 9 pages.

Investing in Children: Public Commitment
in Twenty-one Industrialized Countries, 1980-2001

(PDF file - 635K, 25 pages)(PDF file - 635K, 25 pages)
By Shirley Gatenio Gabel and Sheila B. Kamerman
[includes Canada]
Using time series and survey data, this article explores public commitment to children and their families from 1980 through 2001 in 21 industrialized countries. Despite the shrinking child population in all countries and the slowed growth of the welfare state in most, the authors find that spending on children and families has increased in most countries. The authors conclude that the instruments and goals of the family benefit and service package have changed over time and that future public spending on children is increasingly likely to go toward helping families balance their responsibilities as workers and parents and toward enhancing the development of young children.
Source:
Institute for Child and Family Policy (ICFP) at Columbia University (New York)
[Found in: Social Service Review (June 2006), The University of Chicago.]

What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

Strong foundations: Early childhood care and education
27 Oct 06
- UNESCO's 2007 Education for All Global Monitoring Report.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92590

Spending on childcare ranked low [AU]
25 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92626

The building blocks of a global empire [AU]
20 Oct 06
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=92625

More from CRRU - keep scrolling down this page for more CRRU anayses and links

Adolescent Birth Rate Falls to Record Low, Kids' Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Drops
Infant Mortality Rate Falls to Former Level, But Birth Rate for Unmarried Women Rises
- U.S.
July 14, 2006
News Release
The federal government's yearly statistical report on the well-being of our Nation's children shows that the adolescent birth rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded. The infant mortality rate also declined to its former, lowest ever, level after having increased in the previous year. The proportion of children exposed to secondhand smoke declined, as did the proportion of high school seniors who reported smoking cigarettes daily in the last 30 days. Compared to the previous year's statistics, the average mathematics score increased for 4th and 8th graders and the average reading score for 4th graders also increased. At the same time, the birth rate for unmarried women and the proportion of infants with low birthweight increased from the previous year. These findings are described in America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2006, the U.S. government's annual monitoring report on the well-being of the Nation's children and youth.

America's Children in Brief:
Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2006
Published: July 2006
The Forum’s signature report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, is an annual indicators report that details the status of children and families in the United States. All data are updated annually on the Forum’s website (http://childstats.gov). A more detailed report alternates every other year with a condensed version that highlights selected indicators. This year, the Forum is publishing the Brief and will return to the detailed report in July 2007.

America's Children 2005

Source:
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
"The Forum, is a working group of Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families. The Forum has partners from 20 Federal agencies as well as partners in private research organizations."
Forum Agencies - includes a list of links to all 20 agencies that make up the Interagency Forum.

Ending child poverty
"
On 6 July 2006, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published a report (What will it take to end child poverty? Firing on all cylinders) (PDF file - 1MB, 72 pages) which explores the changes needed for the government to achieve its ambitious target of ending child poverty by 2020. It reviews the character of child poverty in Britain today, and shows that not ending child poverty has high costs for our society, both moral and material. It reviews a wide range of measures for cutting child poverty. Taking into consideration the effect and costs of existing policies, as well as new measures which might be needed to meet targets, a modelling exercise tests the contribution that certain of the measures reviewed can make to reducing child poverty.

This publication draws together the findings of a programme of research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation focusing on child poverty in the UK. The aim of the programme was to produce costed policy options for ending UK child poverty by 2020. A team of researchers from universities and other research organisations examined issues which impact on child poverty - from the tax and benefit system, through to childcare and mental health - as well as the lessons to be learned from other countries.

Working papers and reports on the diverse issues affecting child poverty were published online during June 2006.
Details of the programme are at www.jrf.org.uk/child-poverty

Complete report:

What will it take to end child poverty? Firing on all cylinders) (PDF file - 1MB, 72 pages)

Source:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)

Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is selected recent content from the notifier.

16-Jun-06

ABC LEARNING CENTRES: A CASE STUDY OF AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST CHILD CARE CORPORATION
by Rush, Emma & Downie, Christian
Report from The Australia Institute investigates quality issues at ABC Learning Centres, as reported through surveys and interviews with ABC staff.

>> It's the mother of all myths [GB]
by Sarler, Carol / London Times, 15 Jun 06

>> Preschool empire flawed by its carers [AU]
by Horin, Adele / Sydney Morning Herald, 12 Jun 06

>> Wild goose chase turns child care into a game of hide and seek [AU]
by Alexander, Harriet / Sydney Morning Herald, 8 Jun 06

More CRRU content (further down on the page you're now reading)

First-of-its-Kind Report Examines Child Well-Being in Canada, United States and Mexico:
Economic and Social Integration Have Profound Effect On 120 Million Children in North America
(PDF file - 36K, 2 pages)
Press Release - May 2, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report that examines the state of child well-being in North America – Growing Up in North America: Child Well-Being in Canada, the United States & Mexico – reveals that gains in human development across the continent have not kept pace with the last decade’s dramatic advances in technology, trade, and investment. In this first-of-its-kind report issued today, the three project partners – the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México – call for attention to child well-being against a backdrop of economic and social change in North America.

Growing Up in North America:
Child Well-being in Canada, the United States and Mexico
May 2006
- includes links to:
* Complete report (PDF file - 1MB, 50 pages)
* Executive Summary (PDF file - 92K, 2 pages)
* Fact Sheet (PDF file - 35K, 2 pages)
* Press Release: Economic and Social Integration Have Profound Effect On 120 Million Children in North America (see above)
* From canada.com (May 1): Well-being of children may be overlooked as Canada, U.S., Mexico grow closer
* CCSD Op Ed [March 2006]: Message to Harper, Bush and Fox: Shortsighted to ignore 120 million kids
* Grandir en Amérique du Nord [French] (PDF file - 1.2MB., 56 pages)
* Creciendo en América del Norte [Spanish] (PDF)
* Children in North America Project website

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development

Project partners:

Annie E. Casey Foundation
Since 1948, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission of the 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.

Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México (site available only in Spanish

World Forum 2006 - Future Directions in Child Care
November 19 – 22, 2006 in Vancouver, BC
This international conference will explore and share knowledge, information, data and on promising practices and innovative approaches to prevention and response to child abuse and neglect.

Call For Papers
February 20 to April 15

What's New from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP): (U.S.)

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems that Spend Smarter: Maximizing Resources to Serve Vulnerable Children
Project THRIVE Issue Briefs
February 2006
States planning early childhood comprehensive care systems will use this first Issue Brief from NCCP's Project THRIVE to identify ways to use federal and state fiscal resources more effectively to promote the social and emotional health and well-being of the most vulnerable young children.
Abstract - HTML
Complete report - PDF (276K, 24 pages)

Low-Income Children in the United States:
National and State Trend Data, 1994-2004

January 2006
After nearly a decade of decline, the number of children living in low-income families has been steadily increasing, a pattern that began in 2000. NCCP's new data book brings together national and 50-state trend data on the characteristics of low-income children over the past decade.
Abstract - HTML
Complete report - PDF (429K, 56 pages)

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18
January 2006
Millions of children with low-income parents find themselves without the basics, even though the majority of low-income parents work. Young children continue to be disproportionately low income. NCCP's series, Basic Facts About Low-Income Children, 2006 edition, tracks children in the United States who live in low-income families by age: birth to age 18; birth to age 6; and birth to age 3.
HTML version - includes links to separate reports, one dealing with children birth to age 6 and the other from birth to age 3
PDF version (196K, 4 pages)

What's New in International child care - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is international content from a recent issue of the notifier; you can find Canadian content from CRRU on the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page of this site : http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm

Care for every child
Jen Ross/Toronto Star, 27 May 06

"If things are going so well in our country,
we ought to be able to offer our children more opportunities"
(PDF file - 83K, 3 pages)
Government of Chile press release, 19 Apr 06

Early childhood policies in the Bachelet administration (PDF file - 47K, 1 page)
Government of Chile, 30 Mar 06

Breaking the piggy bank: Parents and the high price of child care
Report from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (US) “finds that parents across the United States are struggling to meet the high cost of child care.”

Family-friendly Finland
by Korpela, Salla
Story from Virtual Finland introduces the Tuurala family from Helsinki and illustrates how they benefit from the Finnish government’s full system of support for families with children.

>> Reconstructing teacher education to prepare qualified preschool teachers: Lessons from New Jersey
by Lobman, Carrie; Ryan, Sharon & McLaughlin, Jill
Article from Early Childhood Research and Practice (US) reports on New Jersey’s efforts to improve their system of preschool teacher certification.

>> Germany embraces the family: Calls for free child care and tax breaks for parents [DE]
National Post, 21 Jan 06

>> Chile’s new leader to stay the course [CL]
Globe and Mail, 17 Jan 06

>> New Liberia leader hails children [LR]
BBC News, 18 Jan 06

>> Child care ‘shambles’ under the spotlight [AU]
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 16 Jan 06

Also from CRRU:

What's New? - Links to Canadian, U.S. and international resources from Jan 2000 to the present.
Child Care in the News - media articles from January 2000 to the present
ISSUE files - links to theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - links to briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications

More CRRU content (this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading)

From the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre:

Alternative Tax-benefit strategies to support children in the European Union.
Recent Reforms in Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom
(PDF file - 382K, 43 pages)
August 2005
Series: Innocenti Working Papers, 2005-07
Author: Christine, Lietz ; Holly, Sutherland ; Horacio, Levy
Category: Child poverty
"This paper presents a further analysis of tax and transfer systems in support of child poverty reduction carried out in the context of the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 6 on Child Poverty in Rich Countries 2005 [see Related Link, below]. The research reported here was funded in part by the Nuffield Foundation and supported by activities within the MICRESA (Micro-level Analysis of the European Social Agenda) project, financed by the Improving Human Potential programme of the European Commission."

Related Link:

Child Poverty Rising in Richest Countries : Study Urges OECD Governments to Establish
Credible Monitoring Systems and Timeframes for the Progressive Reduction of Child Poverty
(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:

Child Poverty in Rich Countries 2005 (PDF file - 218K, 40 pages)
March 1, 2005
Summary of the report (PDF file - 114K, 4 pages)
Background papers
- 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
Other Press material
Brief guide to best practices in defining and monitoring child poverty
Key findings

Source:
Innocenti Report Card no. 6
(this page includes links to Spanish, French and Italian versions of the all of the files above)

Children out of sight, out of mind, out of reach
Abused and Neglected, Millions of Children Have Become Virtually Invisible
Press release
LONDON, 14 December 2005
"Hundreds of millions of children are suffering from severe exploitation and discrimination and have become virtually invisible to the world, UNICEF said today in a major report that explores the causes of exclusion and the abuses children experience."

The State of the World’s Children 2006: Excluded and Invisible
December 2005
- incl. links to the full report and stats, plus : Executive summary * Customized statistical tables * Audio interviews with UNICEF experts * Additional real life stories * Photo essay: Excluded and Invisible * The State of the World's Children movie * Press Release * Key Arguments * Fast Facts * Video News Package * State of the World's Children for young people * Lucy and the World of Invisible Children * Understanding the Millennium Development Goals

Complete report (PDF file - 3.1MB, 156 pages)

2005 State of the World's Children report (further down on the page you're now reading)

Child Care Assistance in 2004: States Have Fewer Funds for Child Care (PDF file - 39K, 3 pages)
December 1, 2005
by Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen
"State spending on child care assistance declined in 2004 for the first time since the passage of welfare reform in 1996. Child care assistance helps low-income families find and retain the jobs they need to support their families. This policy brief, which examines national expenditure data for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), finds that 30 states made cuts to their child care programs and fewer families received the child care help they needed to work and succeed."

Source:
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
The Center for Law and Social Policy is a national, nonprofit public policy organization founded in 1968 that conducts research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy on issues related to economic security for low-income families with children.

News From the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) - New York
[periodic updates on the research and activities of the NCCP]

Subscribe to receive NCCP Updates
I subscribe to this service and I recommend it.
What follows below is the most recent update they sent out, copied and pasted from my e-mail Inbox.
If you subscribe to the update service, this is a sample of what you'll receive from time to time.
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November 17, 2005

Welcome to the listserv of the National Center for Children in Poverty. This mailing provides subscribers with periodic updates on the
research and activities of NCCP. We hope you find this information useful in your work to improve the lives of low-income children and families.

If your colleagues would also like to receive this e-mail from NCCP, please pass this along and ask them to subscribe by following the
directions at the end of this message.

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Here's What's New From NCCP...
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1. NCCP RELEASES NEW STATE FAMILY ECONOMIC SECURITY PROFILES

NCCP's 50-state profiles now provide more information! For data about what your state is doing to assist low-wage workers and their families,
see these new Family Economic Security Profiles.

View state profiles:
http://nccp.org/sps/go.cgi?c=kC9mJciVzc9KQiOIe4Cm


2. NEW BRIEF ARGUES STATE POLICYMAKERS NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO LOW-WAGE WORK

These are challenging economic times for American families, especially those headed by low-wage workers. But state policy can play an important
role in helping those who work hard achieve financial security. This brief provides an introduction to NCCP's new State Family Economic Security Profiles.

Read the brief:
http://nccp.org/sps/go.cgi?c=YLwzfBp7WHTIBxUH299S


3. TEXAS FAMILY RESOURCE SIMULATOR NOW AVAILABLE

You can now use NCCP's Family Resource Simulator to see how much parents need to earn to cover basic expenses in 7 major Texas cities, and to
illustrate how well Texas policies reward employment. NCCP thanks the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources and the Center for
Public Policy Priorities for their assistance. Simulators for 9 other states are also available.

Try the Family Resource Simulator:
http://nccp.org/sps/go.cgi?c=UwTmR6FWoXtTFgMMfaJ5


4. NEW FACT SHEET REVEALS CHILDREN IN URBAN AREAS ARE INCREASINGLY LOW INCOME

More than half the children living in urban areas are low income—and the proportion is rising—even though most have at least one parent who is
employed.

Read the fact sheet:
http://nccp.org/pub_cua05.html


5. UPDATED FACT SHEET ON PARENTS' EDUCATION SHOWS LOW EDUCATION LEADS TO LOW INCOME DESPITE EMPLOYMENT

Parents without some college education continue to lose economic ground, despite full-time employment. Nearly two-thirds of children in low-income
families have parents with only a high school degree or less.

Read the fact sheet:
http://nccp.org/sps/go.cgi?c=KBvzO9h5KPSYSr6riMB8


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To subscribe to this mailing, please visit
http://www.nccp.org/sps/visitor.cgi

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Symposium on Early Child Development - A Priority For Sustained Economic Growth & Equity
September 27-30, 2005
World Bank – Washington, DC
"The Symposium brought together 150 participants from about 30 countries from the Latin and Central America and the Caribbean, East Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern and Central Asia, and Sub Saharan Africa, with the largest representation coming from LAC. (...) The symposium objectives were to: (i) Continue to build awareness of ECD as an important investment that nations can make to inform policymakers about the returns on ECD; (2) Highlight progress in the implementation of policy and program responses; (3) Identify and explore alternative mechanisms to finance effective early child development interventions that reach the beneficiaries, and (4) Learn from existing evaluations so that in the future, better-designed evaluations will respond to questions posed by policy makers and project managers to continue funding ECD."
- includes a detailed agenda and links to other symposium materials (audio/video presentations, speeches, etc.)

The three links below are to Canadian presentations made at the symposium.
Clicking a link downloads a video file and a Powerpoint presentation in each case.
If the video doesn't work, it's likely because you're trying to access the file from behind an office or university network that has a high level of security, or else the network admin just doesn't like people watching videos on company time. Try watching the video from home if that's the case...

Science of ECD: Biological Embeddings of ECD
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 46 min.
by Fraser Mustard (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)

Measuring ECD Longitudinal Research in Canada
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 19 min
by Jane Bertrand (Council for Early Child Development and Parenting, Canada)
- incl. info about the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

Investment in Early Childhood Development : The Economic Argument
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 19 min
by Charles Coffey (Executive VP, Royal Bank of Canada)
[
Text version of this presentation - from the RBC Financial Group website]

Source:
Early Child Development (ECD)
"This site is a knowledge source designed to assist policy makers, program managers, and practitioners in their efforts to promote the healthy growth and integral development of young children."
[ The World Bank ]

Child Care and Early Education Research Connections
"A new database Child Care and Early Education Research Connections (http://www.childcareresearch.org/ ) has been launched. It is is a web-based, interactive database of research documents and public use data sets for conducting secondary analyses on topics related to early care and education. Research Connections highlights current research; develops and disseminates materials designed to improve child care policy research; provides technical assistance to researchers and policy makers; synthesizes findings into policy research briefs; and facilitates collaboration in the field."

"Child Care and Early Education Research Connections promotes high quality research in child care and early education and the use of that research in policy making. Our vision is that children are well cared for and have rich learning experiences, and their families are supported and able to work. Through this Web site, we offer research and data resources for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and others. Research Connections is a partnership among the National Center for Children in Poverty at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan; and the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."
Source:
About this Site

Related Links:

National Center for Children in Poverty - NCCP (Washington)
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the Institute for Social Research (University of Michigan)
The Child Care Bureau (U.S. Administration for Children and Families)

Recent reports from the National Center for Children in Poverty - NCCP (Washington):

Federal Policies Restrict Immigrant Children's Access to Key Public Benefits
October 2005
Despite high levels of employment, immigrant families are more likely to be low income and experience other hardships than families with native-born parents. Federal policies that limit immigrant families’ ability to participate in food stamps, public health insurance, and other key income and work support programs threaten the economic security of millions of America’s children.
Abstract - HTML
Complete report (PDF - 221.11K)

State Policies Can Promote Immigrant Children's Economic Security
October 2005
While federal policies exclude many legal immigrants from key public benefits, some states have stepped in to fill the gap. States can offer critical assistance to children in low-income immigrant families by using their own funds to provide them with the supports available to native-born families.
Abstract - HTML
Complete report (PDF - 692.42K)

Efforts to Promote Children’s Economic Security Must Address Needs of Hard-Working Immigrant Families
October 2005
Virtually all immigrant families are headed by working parents, but low wages and a lack of employer benefits mean that their children are disproportionately likely to be low income and experience other hardships. Efforts to promote the economic security of America’s children must include the children of immigrants—most of whom are U.S. citizens who will remain here for life.
Complete report - HTML
Complete report (PDF - 269.59K)

Marriage Not Enough to Guarantee Economic Security
September 2005
"More than one in four children with married parents is low income. The majority of low-income children in rural and suburban areas live with parents who are married, and most single parents were formerly married as well. The majority of married low-income parents are employed, and 41 percent of their children have two employed parents. Illness and disability are common reasons for unemployment. Low wages, lack of employee benefits, frequent moves, and low levels of education are common among these parents, and their need for public health insurance and food stamps is rising."
Abstract - HTML
Complete report (PDF - 310K)

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

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18
July 2005
"After a decade of decline, the proportion of low-income families is rising again and millions of children of low-income parents find themselves without the basics, despite a majority of them living in households with working parents. More than one-third of children in the United States live in low-income families and 17 percent live in poor families. Young children are disproportionally affected."
Abstract
Complete report
(PDF file - 140K, 4 pages)

Source:
NCCP Economic Security Papers - links to 10 papers (see also Policies and Publication Series down the right-hand side of the page)

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Children's Well-Being 2005
July 2005
"...America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, is an annual indicators report that details the status of children and families in the United States. The report presents the latest available data on 25 indicators related to economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education and on 9 background measures related to population and family characteristics. These indicators represent important aspects of children's lives. In addition, each year the report includes special features that present measures that are either not regularly available, merit special attention, or provide additional detail regarding a specific topic."

Highlights of the report

America's Children Reports - incl. links to this year's report

Source:
Childstats.gov
"This web site offers easy access to statistics and reports on children and families, including: population and family characteristics, economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education."

What's New in International child care - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is international content from recent issues of the notifier.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEW POSTINGS AVAILABLE ON THE
CHILDCARE RESOURCE AND RESEARCH UNIT’S WEBSITE
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

19-Aug-05

>> In our own backyards: Local and state strategies to improve the quality of family child care
by Katie Hamm, Barbara Gault & Avis Jones-De Weever
Report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (US) proposes policy changes to combat low earnings and lack of training opportunities among family child care providers.

>> In focus: Work-life balance
by various authors
Current issue of the Ivey Business Journal (U.S.) features nine articles dedicated to work and family issues, including an article on the changing role of fathers.

29-July-05

>> Research debunks myth of self-reliant nuclear family [US]
EurekAlert! 28 Jul 05
Despite the long-cherished belief that the nuclear family is independent and self-sustaining, most families with working parents depend on a network of care to manage work and family demands, according to research by Brandeis University sociologist Karen Hansen.

>> U.S. steers its own course on family leave [US]
Associated Press, 27 Jul 05
With little public debate, the United States has chosen a radically different approach to maternity leave than the rest of the developed world. The United States is one of the only industrialized countries that doesn’t provide paid leave for new mothers nationally.

22-July-05

>> Take back the language: Appreciating the culture of early childhood education
by McKinlay, Linda; Leone, Linday & MacDonald, Margaret
Position paper endorsed by more than 35 training programs in early childhood education in British Columbia discusses how to bridge the divide between education and care.

>> The social economy: Finding a way between the market and the state
by Neamtam, Nancy
Article by Nancy Neamtam for Policy Options describes the social economy as “a manifestation of positive and active citizenship that governments need to recognize and support”.

>> Head Start impact study: First year findings
by Puma, Michael; Bell, Stephen; Cook, Ronna; Heid, Camilla & Lopez, Michael
Study by the U.S government tracks the influence of Head Start on 3- and 4-year old children across cognitive, social-emotional, and health domains.

>> Mothers encouraged to stay out of work [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Jul 05
Australian mothers have one of the lowest employment rates in the developed world, encouraged to stay at home through welfare payments and community expectations, says an international expert.

>> Fathers to have child care leave [KR]
Korea Times, 22 Jun 05
Working fathers in Korea will soon be allowed to have paid leave to care their young one as part of government efforts to help turn around the declining birthrate.

Also from CRRU:

What's New? - Links to Canadian, U.S. and international resources from Jan 2000 to the present.
Child Care in the News - media articles from January 2000 to the present
ISSUE files - links to theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - links to briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications

Earlier Issues of CRRU's notifier - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading

 

From the Children's Defense Fund:

New CDF Report: More Than 13 Million Children Face Food Insecurity -- U.S.
Press Release
June 2, 2005
"According to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 13.3 million American children were food insecure in 2003; of these, 420,000 lived in households where someone had to go hungry.
Overall, 36.3 million Americans experienced food insecurity in 2003, 1.4 million more than in 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture."

Complete report:

Food Insecurity 2005 (PDF file - 122K, 6 pages)

Also from CDF:

New CDF Report: Millions of Children Would Benefit From an Increase in the Minimum Wage - U.S.
Press Release
May 18, 2005
"In the report, titled Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being , the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) shows that, in 2004, 9.7 million children lived in a household with at least one worker earning between $5.15 and $7.25 per hour. A parent supporting two children and w orking full time at the current minimum wage of $5.15 would end up with an annual salary $4,500 below the poverty line . The pernicious sting of poverty puts these children at greater risk of poor health due to lack of affordable health care, increases their likelihood of falling behind in school and leaves families unable to pay for adequate housing, nutritious food or quality child care."

Complete report:

Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being (PDF file - 124K, 5 pages)

 

New CDF Report: Millions of Children Would Benefit From an Increase in the Minimum Wage
Press Release
May 18 2005
"In the report, titled Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being , the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) shows that, in 2004, 9.7 million children lived in a household with at least one worker earning between $5.15 and $7.25 per hour. A parent supporting two children and w orking full time at the current minimum wage of $5.15 would end up with an annual salary $4,500 below the poverty line . The pernicious sting of poverty puts these children at greater risk of poor health due to lack of affordable health care, increases their likelihood of falling behind in school and leaves families unable to pay for adequate housing, nutritious food or quality child care."

Complete report:

Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being (PDF file - 124K, 5 pages)

Source:
Children's Defense Fund

 

Launch of World Development Indicators 2005 Report
World Bank Report Urges Faster Progress In Reducing Child Deaths, Primary School Enrollments – Particularly Among Girls
Press Release
April 17, 2005
"WASHINGTON—Five years after the Millennium Declaration, many countries have made progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but many more lag behind. Faster progress is needed in reducing maternal and child deaths, boosting primary school enrolments, and removing obstacles to greater numbers of girls going to school, according to the World Bank’s latest World Development Indicators (WDI) 2005."

World Development Indicators 2005
"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

WDI 2005 full text

Source:
The World Bank Group

 

 

2005 Index of Child Well-Being shows mixed picture for America's children:
huge declines in crime, violence and risky behavior amid increasing poverty and worsening health
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:

2005 Report
Index of Child Well-Being (CWI), 1975- 2003 with Projections for 2004
(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:
Foundation for Child Development
"Connecting Research with Policy to Promote Social Change since 1900"
- incl. links to:
Press Release * Fact Sheet * Policy Brief * Fast Facts

Google.ca News Search Results : "2005 Index of Child Well-Being"

 

Earlier Earlier Issues of CRRU's notifier

15-July-05

>> Assessing the quality of early years learning environments - U.S.
by Walsh, Glenda & Gardner, John
Article from Early Childhood Research and Practice describes a means of evaluating early years classrooms from the perspective of the child's experience.

>> Effects of welfare and employment policies on young children: New findings on policy experiments conducted in the early 1990s - U.S.
by Morris, Pamela A.; Gennetian, Lisa A. & Duncan, Greg J.
Paper from Society for Research in Child Development (U.S.) analyses findings on the effects of welfare policies on children, including the increased use of centre-based child care arrangements.

>> Timing of poverty in childhood critical to later outcomes [US]
Society for Research in Child Development, 14 Jul 05
It is well known that children who live in poverty have more trouble in school and more problems socially than other children. Now investigators funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development (US) find that while children who live in chronic poverty from birth through age 9 score lowest on tests of school readiness and social competence, poverty at any time during early childhood is detrimental.

>> Dig deep to make Sure Start just as brilliant as it can be [GB]
Guardian, 13 Jul 05
The British government has tried to create a universal child care network without providing anything like the money needed. Its decision to fund this network through credits instead of biting the bullet and subsidising nurseries needs an urgent review.

8-July 2005

>> Women’s empowerment: Measuring the global gender gap
By Lopez-Claros, Augusto & Zahidi, Saadia
Study from the World Economic Forum measures the extent to which women have achieved equality; includes information on child care availability and cost and the impact of maternity laws.

>> Family values, Santorum-style [US]
World Net Daily, 8 Jul 05
What do Republicans mean when they appropriate the term "family values"? Well, now we know. It's all spelled out by Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. In his scary new book, "It Takes A Family: Conservatism and the Common Good" – due in book stores July 24 – Santorum speaks out against diversity, public schools, college education and working women.

>> Loan scheme on offer for child care [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 6 Jul 05
Australia's biggest chain of private child care centres, ABC Learning, is offering finance to help parents meet rising fees. While the first 14 months are interest-free, child care industry representatives are worried parents may run up debts.

30-June-05

>> Government of Australia 2004 census of child care services
by Government of Australia. Department of Family and Community Services
Report from Australia’s Department of Family and Community Services finds child care fees increasing and growth in for-profit care outstripping growth in not-for-profit care.

>> All together now: State experiences in using community-based child care to provide pre-kindergarten
by Rachel Schumacher, Danielle Ewen, Katherine Hart & Joan Lomardi
Report from the Center for Law and Social Policy (US) proposes that some states’ plans to provide pre-K in both centres and schools may help break barriers between education and care.

>> Child care fees soar - if you can find it [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 30 Jun 05
The cost of child care in Australia is increasing at five times the rate of inflation. While the number of places is growing, demand still outstrips supply, particularly in inner-city areas where parents routinely wait for two or three years before finding a place.

>> Dressed to oppress [AU]
Daily Telegraph (Australia), 30 Jun 05
Child care giant ABC Learning is making staff buy their own uniforms while pocketing a cool $40 million in profit. Carers, some of whom earn as little as $420-a-week after tax, are having to shell out more than half that for pants and shirts featuring the ABC logo.

Quality time thrills Nordic dads [DK]
BBC News, 28 Jun 05
Paternity leave schemes in Denmark and Iceland are among the most generous in the world - and are proving to benefit society, experts say.

24-June-05

>> Presentations from Plan-It Quality: Environments in early learning and child care linking research to policy and practice
Presentations by Bengt-Erik Andersson, Thelma Harms, Margaret Tresch Owen and Gillian Doherty “address the issue of quality in all aspects of a child's environment”.

>> How Swede it is: Learning from Sweden's perspective on children [SE]
Today’s Parent, 15 Jun 05
"In Sweden, child care (preschool, they call it) seems more about providing a good experience for kids rather than a good future outcome. I think we could learn and borrow much more from Sweden."

>> Building blocks of an empire [AU]
Courier-Mail, 20 Jun 05
Australia’s biggest corporate child care group ABC Learning Centres has had sand kicked in its face in recent weeks. In contrast to its advertisements of smiling children it has faced images of angry parents and unionists. But the
Brisbane-based company has stuck by its guns and analysts are seeing profitable times ahead.

>> Schools call on more men to be child carers [GB]
Guardian, 19 Jun 05
The British government plans a fivefold increase in the number of male child care workers. National advertising campaigns tailored to men and male-only training courses will be used to recruit the extra staff.

20-May-05

>> Prekindergarteners left behind: Expulsion rates in State prekindergarten systems
by Gilliam, Walter S.
Study from the Foundation for Child Development (US) finds that expulsion rates are 3.2 times higher in pre-K than K-12. Rates are highest in faith-affiliated and for-profit centres.

>> Growing up in Australia: The longitudinal study of Australian children - 2004 annual report
by Government of Australia. Australian Institute of Family Studies
Report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies aims to further understanding of early childhood development and inform social policy debate.

>> OECD Thematic Review of ECEC: Austrian background report
by Kromer, Ingrid; Phoser, Alena & Zuba, Rheinhard
Background report from the Austrian government provides comprehensive and critical descriptions of ECEC policies and organization, as part of the OECD’s Thematic Review.

>> Grandparents take over as mums go back to work [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 16 May 05
More than 20 per cent of Australian mothers rejoin the workforce by the time their child is six months old, a new national survey of childhood in Australia shows.

>>‘Bébé boom’ will put France ahead of UK and Germany [FR]
Independent, 13 May 05
According to demographic calculations by the French government, a booming birth rate will push the population of France to 75 million by the year 2050. Two children or more are the norm for French couples. France spends more than any other EU country - 4.5 per cent of GDP - on policies that promote child care and assist families.

13-May-05

>> Pre-school in transition: A national evaluation of the Swedish pre-school
Report from the Swedish National Agency for Education is the first evaluation of Swedish preschool since the 1998 reforms and introduction of a national preschool curriculum.

>> Who’s teaching our youngest students? Teacher education and training, experience, compensation and benefits, and assistant teachers
Report from the National Institute for Early Education’s National Prekindergarten Study (US) finds seven out of ten teachers in state-funded prekindergartens earn salaries in the low-income category.

>> Gender-based analysis: Building blocks for success
Report of the Standing Committee on Status of Women discusses GBA as a tool to ensure that "federal government programs and policies do not maintain or exacerbate any equality gap".

>> Caring more for children in child care [AU]
The Age, 13 May 05
The Australian government's policy of paying child care subsidies to parents rather than direct subsidies to community child care centres has seen a huge rise in privately run facilities and concerns that the quality of care is being sacrificed in those centres that exist to make a profit.

>> Rewards in child care [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 05
Sydney's investors are learning to diversify and seek out the best properties offering solid investment yields, often in emerging sectors such as child care.

06-May-05\

>> Minister meets parents over child care [AU]
The Age, 12 Apr 05
Federal Community Services Minister Kay Patterson has told a Melbourne mother not to be "so emotional" about Australia's shortage of child care places.

22-April-05

>> OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care: France reports
Background report and country note from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development discuss ECEC policy in France.

>> Care Architecture project
Ongoing research project by the Danish National Institute for Social Research is a cross-national comparison of care packages in eight European countries.

SEIU to represent daycare workers [US-IL]
Associated Press, 20 Apr 05
The Service Employees International Union declared victory Thursday in an election to decide if it would represent 49,000 Illinois state-subsidized child care workers.

Child care industry proves big business [US]
Boston Globe, 19 Apr 05
Early childhood education in the U.S is big business. That's one of the conclusions in a report released yesterday by the MIT Workplace Center and the