Investing in Children : Work, Education, and Social Policy in Two Rich Countries

Investing in Children: Work, Education, and Social Policy in Two Rich Countries presents new research by leading scholars in Australia and the United States on economic factors that influence children's development and the respective social policies that the two nations have designed to boost human capital development. The volume is organized around three major issues: parental employment, early childhood education and child care, and postsecondary education. All three issues are intimately linked with human capital development. Since both Australia and the United States have created extensive policies to address these three issues, there is potential for each to learn from the other's experiences and policies. This volume helps fulfill that potential. The authors demonstrate that in both nations, the effects of low family income and income inequality emerge early in life and persist. However, policies that increase parental employment, augment family income, and promote quality preschool and postsecondary education can boost children's development and at least partially offset the negative developmental effects of family economic disadvantage. Presents New Research By Leading Scholars In Australia And The United States On Economic Factors That Influence Children's Development And The Respective Social Policies The Two Nations Have Designed To Boost Human Capital Development--provided By Publisher. Dynamics Of Early Maternal Employment In Low-income Families / Rebekah Levine Coley And Caitlin Mcpherran Lombardi -- Family Joblessness And Child Well-being In Australia / Matthew Gray And Jennifer Baxter -- The Way Families Work : Jobs, Hours, Income, And Children's Well-being / Lyndall Strazdins ... [et Al.] -- The Impact Of Child Care Subsidies On The Quality Of Care That Two-year-old Children Receive / Anna Johnson And Rebecca Ryan -- Early Childhood Development And School Readiness / Frank Oberklaid, Sharon Goldfield, And Tim Moore -- Economic Inequality And Children's Educational Attainment / Mary E. Campbell, Robert Haveman, And Barbara Wolfe -- Pathways Of Social Disadvantage From Adolescence Into Adulthood / Kathleen Mullan Harris And Hedwig Lee -- Poverty, Intergenerational Mobility, And Young Adult Educational Attainment / Patrick Wightman And Sheldon Danzinger. Ariel Kalil, Ron Haskins, And Jenny Chesters, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. __Investing in Children: Work, Education, and Social Policy in Two Rich Countries__ presents new research by leading scholars in Australia and the United States on economic factors that influence children's development and the respective social policies that the two nations have designed to boost human capital development. The authors demonstrate that in both nations, the effects of low family income and income inequality emerge early in life and persist. However, policies that increase parental employment, augment family income, and promote quality preschool and postsecondary education can boost children's development and at least partially offset the negative developmental effects of family economic disadvantage. Front Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Information 5 Table of Contents 6 Introduction 8 Dynamics of Early Maternal Employment in Low-Income Families 31 Family Joblessness and Child Well-Being in Australia 55 The Way Families Work: Jobs, Hours, Income, and Children's Well-Being 86 The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on the Quality of Care that Two-Year-Old Children Receive 107 Early Childhood Development and School Readiness 134 Economic Inequality and Children's Educational Attainment 151 Pathways of Social Disadvantage from Adolescence into Adulthood 175 Poverty, Intergenerational Mobility, and Young Adult Educational Attainment 215 Contributors 244 Index 246 Back Cover 255 Presents new research by leading scholars in Australia and the US on economic factors that influence children's development and the respective social policies that the two nations have designed to boost human capital development. The volume is organised around three major issues: parental employment, early childhood education and child care, and postsecondary education. "Presents new research by leading scholars in Australia and the United States on economic factors that influence children's development and the respective social policies the two nations have designed to boost human capital development."--Résumé de l'éditeur