Issues

Child Care Support for Student Parents in Community College Is Crucial for Success, but Supply and Funding Are Inadequate

Of the over 6 million students earning college credit at community colleges, 1.7 million (27 percent) are parents. Of those, about 1 million (16 percent) are single parents, more than twice the proportion at 4-year institutions. Three-quarters of single parents in college are women.

Women and Men’s Employment and Unemployment in the Great Recession

Since December 2007, the U.S. economy has been in the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Because much of the slowdown has occurred in traditionally male fields such as manufacturing and construction while a few traditionally female fields such as health and education have shown job growth or minimal job loss, many reports have focused on the job losses among men in the labor force.

Resilient and Reaching for More: Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and Their Children

This report details the inspiration, struggles, and perseverance of those pursuing a college degree while receiving welfare in California and the benefits that education brings them and their children.

Maternity Leave in the United States: Paid Parental Leave is Still Not Standard, Even Among the Best U.S. Employers

Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the best employers for working mothers provide four or fewer weeks of paid maternity leave, and half (52 percent) provide six weeks or less, according to an Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis of data provided by Working Mother Media, Inc., publisher of Working Mother magazine.