PopWire: Preschoolers With Working Moms Rely on Grandparent's Care
There were nearly 11.3 million children younger than 5 whose mothers were employed in 2005. Of those, nearly one-third counted on regular care by a grandparent during their mother's working hours (30 percent), according to tables recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. (March 2008)

Improving Early Childhood Nutrition Has Long-Term Economic Benefits
At a Population Reference Bureau policy seminar sponsored in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Reynaldo Martorell discussed the effect of a nutrition intervention during early childhood on human capital assets and on the economic productivity of Guatemalan adults. Also view a 10-minute webcast interview with Dr. Martorell. (February 2008)

PRB Discuss Online: "Finding Ways to Improve Child Health"
Each year, nearly 10 million children die, mostly from preventable and treatable causes. Millions of children in low-income countries suffer from long-term illnesses, malnutrition, and injuries that limit their life options. What can we do to improve children's health and save lives in low-income countries? What are the links to mother's health? In this PRB Discuss Online, Dr. Nils Daulaire, president and CEO of the Global Health Council, answered participants' questions on this topic. Read a transcript of the questions and answers. (February 2008)

The Growing Color Divide in U.S. Infant Mortality
How one fares in the United States has been characterized by a racial division that begins at birth with disparities in health care. Inadequate health care can have a significant effect on the future social and economic path of newborns. Despite continued improvements in the health of the African American population, black babies are still nearly 2.5 times more likely than white babies to die before reaching their first birthday. To make matters worse, recent data show rising infant mortality among blacks in some states. (October 2007)

Powerful Partners: Adolescent Girls' Education and Delayed Childbearing (PDF: 376KB)
More-educated women have fewer children. This seemingly straightforward relationship is actually complex, and the benefits associated with different levels of education can vary considerably by setting. This policy brief describes adolescent girls' reproductive health risks and how increasing their educational attainment reduces those risks, including early and unwanted fertility, and benefits their future families and society. (September 2007)

Community Theater and Peer Education Help Tanzanians Discuss HIV and Gender-Based Violence
Cheza Chezeka is unfaithful to his partner, engages in unsafe sex, and acquires a sexually transmitted infection. Fikirini, on the other hand, learns how to communicate and resist sexual temptation and peer pressure. Tino Mashakani abuses his girlfriend and brags about his violent behavior to his friends until one of them steps forward with advice on how to stop the violence. Each of these dramatic characters was developed by the Tuelimishane project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tuelimishane used community-based theater and peer education to heighten awareness of HIV and gender-based violence and change behaviors. (September 2007)

Malnutrition Is Still a Major Contributor to Chlid Deaths (PDF: 376KB)

 Malnutrition continues to be one of the world's most serious development problems. Exacerbating the consequences of infectious disease, malnutrition contributes to about 6 million deaths annually of children under 5. But cost-effective interventions can reduce the global impacts of malnutrition. This policy brief examines the causes and effects of malnutrition (both underweight and overweight), and provides a set of short-term and long-term actions that can improve the nutritional status of the world over the next decade. (2007)

Africa's Youthful Population: Risk or Opportunity? (PDF: 123KB)

 Africa's young people will be the driving force behind economic prosperity in future decades, but only if policies and programs are in place to enhance their opportunities and encourage smaller families. This policy brief outlines the opportunities and risks that can result from the large numbers of youth growing up in sub-Saharan Africa today. (June 2007)

Is Low Birth Weight a Cause of Problems, or a Symptom of Them?
A symposium sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Population Center and the Population Reference Bureau marshaled expert speakers to address the topic, "How Important Are the Long-Term Consequences of Low Birth Weight?" In one corner was Dalton Conley, a New York University sociologist, who argued that low birth weight contributes to so many later health and behavior problems that policymakers need to address it directly. In the other was Marie McCormick, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard University, who stated that while low birth weight is associated with later problems, it is not clear that it causes them directly. (June 2007)

Challenges and Opportunities—The Population of the Middle East and North Africa

 This Population Bulletin looks at recent demographic trends in the Middle East and North Africa and how they interact with social and economic forces of change. It shows how this high-profile region is being transformed by mortality and fertility declines and a veritable revolution in marriage patterns and family planning use. The Bulletin  also considers the effects of immigration and refugee movements on the labor force as well as on the age and sex composition of country populations. (BUL62.2; June 2007)