Changing Family Structures: There have been numerous reports lately on the how family structures have changed.
· A fact sheet from the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research on Poverty examines changes in family structures over the past half century and their implications on poverty. Among its major findings, the proportion of out of wedlock births that occurred between 1960 and 2010 rose from 5 percent to 41 percent-particularly among women in their 20s. In addition, it found that having children with more than one partner is common among all couples, but significantly more prevalent among unmarried parents than married parents - 59 percent compared to 21 percent, respectively.
· Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America, notes a recent rise in age at first marriage, which now stands at 27 for women and 29 for men--a historic high. Another important consequence of delayed marriage is that most Americans without college degrees now have their first child before they marry.
· This Washington Post blog provides nine facts about marriage and child birth in the US, including: by age 25, 44 percent of women have had a baby, while only 38 percent have married; by the time they turn 30, about two-thirds of American women have had a baby, typically out of wedlock. Overall, 48 percent of first births are to unmarried women, most of them in their twenties.
Addressing Chronic Neglect: From HHS, this bulletin for professionals discusses what is known about chronic child neglect and reviews ways to work with families experiencing chronic neglect, including critical elements of successful casework practice, examples of what agencies are doing, and ways agencies can integrate child welfare approaches to chronic neglect with prevention and early intervention efforts. Examples of promising interventions and programs are included. (20 pp.)
Psychotropic Use and Pregnant Foster Teens: From the Center for the Study of Social Policy, this brief explores the growing concern about the appropriate use of psychotropic medication for youth in foster care. The issues become even more complicated when applied to pregnant and parenting youth in foster care. This brief addresses some of the issues raised and provides links to other resources addressing psychotropic medication use.
TANF Benefits Continue to Fall: The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes that TANF cash assistance benefits for the nation's poorest families with children fell again in purchasing power in 2012 and are now at least 20 percent below their 1996 levels in 37 states, after adjusting for inflation. Unlike in 2011, when six states reduced the already-low TANF benefits they provide, no states cut benefit levels in 2012. The brief includes state-by-state charts on benefit levels.
Online Work Readiness Assessment (OWRA) Tool: From HHS, this is a Web-based suite of OWRA resources, tools, assessments, and guidelines that help case managers engage participants in work-focused activities that lead to long-term self-sufficiency. OWRA provides case managers with the tools, methodology, and process to ask the assessment questions, integrate new participants into the TANF program, and strengthen service delivery linkages with other agencies.
Child Support and Poverty: The latest federal Office of Child Support Enforcement's Story Behind the Numbers discusses poverty. It explains that for families below the poverty level who received child support in 2009, the average amount of child support represented 45 percent of their average yearly income. (3 pp.)
