Region: North America

States in U.S. With Higher Tax Rates Are Better for Children
A new index of child well-being finds a strong relationship among state tax rates, the size of state investments in children, and children's quality-of-life. The STATE Child Well-Being Index—developed for the Foundation for Child Development by demographers William O'Hare of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Mark Mather and Genevieve Dupuis of the Population Reference Bureau—provides the most-comprehensive measure of children's quality-of-life on a state-by-state basis. (February 2012)

Working Mothers With College Degrees See Gains in Paid Maternity Leave
Working mothers with a bachelor's degree have gained increasing access to paid leave in recent decades, while women without high school degrees have seen no change, reported Nancy Folbre, a University of Massachusetts economist. About two-thirds of first-time mothers had access to paid leave (maternity leave, sick leave, or vacation leave) between 2006 and 2008, an 11 percent increase since 1985, according to census data. These women have more than doubled their access to paid leave since 1975. (February 2012)

Planning for Retirement and End-of-Life Care
This e-newsletter is the 24th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. The topic highlights work by National Institute on Aging (NIA)-supported researchers and others that examines the impact of planning on the well-being of older people and their families. Many of the findings are based on analysis of data collected through the NIA-supported Health and Retirement Study (HRS) that surveys every two years a representative sample of Americans ages 51 and older. (January 2012)

Nearly 1 in 3 Working Families in U.S. Struggle to Meet Basic Needs
The slow recovery from the recession has fallen hard on America's working poor families, increasing their numbers by 125,000 in 2010 to more than 10 million families, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The new data show a wide income gap between low-income working families and the nation's wealthiest working families. Between 2007 and 2010, the share of working families who are low-income increased from 28 percent to 31 percent, according to Overlooked and Underpaid: Low-Income Working Families Increases to 10.2 Million, published by the Working Poor Families Project. (January 2012)

Appalachia's Slow Growth Not Seen in All Its Counties
Appalachia's residents remain older, less educated, and less racially diverse than the United States as a whole, but those population trends vary widely by county, according to the 2011 Appalachian Regional Commission report prepared by the Population Reference Bureau. (January 2012)

A Post-Recession Update on U.S. Social and Economic Trends (cont'd.)
The Great Recession in the United States began in December 2007 and officially ended in June of 2009, resulting in a broad-based decline in America's economic well-being and security. This Population Bulletin Update is a follow-up to the 2010 Population Bulletin, "U.S. Economic and Social Trends Since 2000," by Linda A. Jacobsen and Mark Mather, and provides new data and analysis on the ongoing impact of the recession in the United States. (December 2011)

A Post-Recession Update on U.S. Social and Economic Trends
The Great Recession in the United States began in December 2007 and officially ended in June of 2009, resulting in a broad-based decline in America's economic well-being and security. This Population Bulletin Update is a follow-up to the 2010 Population Bulletin, "U.S. Economic and Social Trends Since 2000," by Linda A. Jacobsen and Mark Mather, and provides new data and analysis on the ongoing impact of the recession in the United States. (December 2011)

Genetics Make Quitting Difficult for Some Smokers
Today's smokers are more strongly influenced by genetic factors than in the past and that influence makes it more difficult for them to quit, according to a new study of twins published in the December issue of the journal Demography. The study shows that adult identical twins sharing a common genetic structure are significantly more likely to quit smoking at the same time than are fraternal twins who do not share identical genes. (December 2011)

A Post-Recession Update on U.S. Social and Economic Trends (cont'd.)
The Great Recession in the United States began in December 2007 and officially ended in June of 2009, resulting in a broad-based decline in America's economic well-being and security. This Population Bulletin Update is a follow-up to the 2010 Population Bulletin, "U.S. Economic and Social Trends Since 2000," by Linda A. Jacobsen and Mark Mather, and provides new data and analysis on the ongoing impact of the recession in the United States. (December 2011)

The Effects of Military Deployment on Family Health
Extended involvement of the United States military in Iraq and Afghanistan has led to new realities for military personnel and their families. The mental health consequences for returning and redeployed soldiers are well-established, but the psychological, financial, and social burden on the spouses and children of deployed military personnel is only now emerging as an important issue. On Oct. 28, 2011, the Population Reference Bureau and the Hopkins Population Center sponsored its 5th Annual Symposium on Policy and Health: "The Effects of Military Deployment on Family Health."