This paper reviews family structure, its relationship to employment, and the recession’s impact on poor families. To reduce poverty, the report proposes policies that help parents balance work and caretaking, and support their children.

Research on the effect of laws mandating parental involvement in minors’ abortions has failed to examine an important behavioral response to such laws: Older teenagers may delay an abortion until age 18. For some, this may mean terminating a pregnancy after the first trimester. Using data on...

This issue brief evaluates whether policies requiring parental involvement in minors' decision to obtain an abortion can alter their sexual behavior and help reduce the rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among teens. Using data from the STI surveillance system of the Centers for...