The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

By the end of the current decade, many baby boomers will be senior citizens. What policies should we enact to prepare for an aging society?In the coming decade, we have a unique opportunity to create new and better aging policies. This collection of twenty essays by prominent educators, researchers, and policy analysts in the field of gerontology brings together innovative ideas from the United States, Europe, and Japan. Instead of focusing on utopian dreams, these exciting proposals are based on policy changes that may well be attainable in the next ten years. The vital concerns addressed in Advancing Aging Policy as the 21st Century Begins include work and retirement issues, the aging prison population, long-term care, Latino elders, transportation, death and dying issues, and the aging of the baby boom generation. Advancing Aging Policy as the 21st Century Begins explores: innovative policies and care arrangements around the world the importance of a strong economy that provides opportunities for seniors who seek them and support for those who need it the need for flexible retirement and employment policies for older adults the connections between family policy and aging policy the importance of improving training and compensation for workers in long-term care the special needs of our diverse and rapidly growing population of older people the importance of focusing aging policy on people rather than on programsThis forward-looking book on policy and aging in the coming decade puts the experience and insight of leaders in the field from around the world in your hands. Policymakers, educators, and students of gerontology will find it an invaluable resource.

Explore the crucial issues facing the GLBT population in their struggle for acceptance in contemporary America! Sexual Minorities: Discrimination, Challenges, and Development in America examines the stumbling blocks that prevent gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trangenders from living wholesome, healthy lives. This book concentrates on the effects of outside influences on the homosexual psyche from adolescence to mid-life and programs and services that need to be developed to improve quality of life. While some outside influences can make positive changes—such as Internet-based outreach to educate men in chat rooms about HIV—sexual minority groups face negativity from society in the forms of homophobia and heterosexism. Sexual Minorities uses statistics, charts, graphs, and surveys to reveal a remarkable trend correlating how contemporary American society treats sexual minorities and how it affects their psychological and psychosocial health. This book also reveals how—when internalized— this hurtful discrimination can cause self-hatred and depression. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the GLBT population, including: the history of homophobia and intolerance toward homosexuals with its basis in cultural, religious, and sociological views an in-depth survey utilizing Erikson’s psychosocial model to determine the lifespan development of seven “out” gay males who discuss their coming-out period, their roles in society, their legacies, and later-life issues the lack of federal legislation protecting GLBT employees in the workplace and recommendations for creating a sense of security for these employees a case study revealing the high incidence rate of heterosexism amongst social workers and the repercussions this could have among homosexual clientele surveys and statistics investigating the rate of abusive behavior in lesbian relationships three chapters involving specific issues of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, such as coming out, risk and protective factors, and being homosexual in a rural environment as opposed to a city Sexual Minorities is an important tool for everyone in today’s society—from students and practitioners of social work, health care, human sexuality, psychology, and sociology, to legislators, lawyers, activists, and business owners. This book is also vital for every parent, relative, or friend of a man or woman labeled as a sexual minority.

Get a fresh perspective on how older women adapt to life without a spouse! Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again examines new perspectives on the problems older women face adjusting to life without a spouse. The book examines the transition from the togetherness of marriage to the solitude of being suddenly single, exploring how older widows and divorcees adapt. A multidisciplinary panel of practitioners, researchers, and academics addresses the challenges facing elderly women after a divorce or the death of a spouse, including issues of physical and psychological well-being (clinical depression, nutrition), economics (reduced Social Security benefits, loss of pension income, health care costs), social support (public policy, counseling), and living arrangements. Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again presents fresh insights into the challenges single women face as they age, including disability and chronic health problems, threats to economic security, and the need for assistance with normal activities of daily living. The book examines the increased hospitalization risk for widowed older women, the protective efforts of social contacts, the impact of minority group status on projected retirement income, care arrangement choices, coping with bereavement, and the changing balance between co-residence with families and institutional care. Interviews, data projections, and research studies offer particular focus on women of Mexican-American and African-American descent, and women living in England and Wales, Africa, and the north and south Pacific. Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again addresses: the importance of family support the importance of religion and spirituality in coping with loss maintaining social connections maintaining independence the baby boom cohort and much more! Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again is an insightful examination of the concerns, issues, and problems facing older women who live without a spouse but within specific social and cultural networks from which they receive support.

A Brookings Institution Press and National Academy for Social Insurance publication In this new conference volume from the National Academy of Social Insurance, experts offer differing views on what changes will, and must, occur to ensure the continuing viability of Social Security, retirement benefits, unemployment insurance, Medicare, and health security programs. The book opens with a general overview of how economic and political forces will shape the future of social insurance. In the chapters that follow, contributors discuss and debate a full range of related topics, including future Social Security investment returns, the changing face of private retirement plans, insuring longevity risk in pensions and Social Security, issues in unemployment insurance, long-term financing, governance, and markets for Medicare, and health care for the underserved and uninsured. Contributors include William C. Dudley (Goldman Sachs), Richard Berner (Morgan Stanley Dean Witter), Kilolo Kijakazi (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Fay Lomax Cook (Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University), Lawrence Jacobs (University of Minnesota), Jack VanDerhei (Fox School of Business Management, Temple University) Craig Copeland (Employee Benefit Research Institute), Jeffery R. Brown (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard), Janet Norwood (1993-96 Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation), Marilyn Moon (Urban Institute), Sheila Burke (Smithsonian Institution and Kennedy School of Government, Harvard), Mark Schlesinger (Yale), Gerard Anderson (Johns Hopkins University), Lauren LeRoy (Grantmakers in Health), Ruth Riedel (Alliance Healthcare Foundation of San Diego), and Henrie M. Treadwell (W. K. Kellog Foundation¡¯s Community Voices).

Population aging is a matter of global concern. It often occurs in tandem with changes in the health profile of the population. In Africa, many countries are already facing a high burden of communicable diseases. However, as more and more children survive childhood and move on to adult years and old age they are also more likely to experience health problems associated with the aging process. Population aging in Africa is occurring in the context of high levels of poverty, changing family structures, an immense disease burden, fragile health systems and weak or poorly managed government institutions. This book shows that aging is likely to lead to increased social and economic demands for the continent. However, most national governments in Africa have not begun to address the issue of how to respond effectively to the needs of the older population. This will require a better understanding of the socio-economic and demographic situation of the older population in Africa. This book fills the gaps that exist by exploring the social realities of population aging in Africa. It also focuses on the policy and programmatic responses, gaps and future challenges related to aging across the continent.

This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of social psychological research on inequality for a graduate student and professional audience. Drawing on all of the major theoretical traditions in sociological social psychology, its chapters demonstrate the relevance of social psychological processes to this central sociological concern. Each chapter in the volume has a distinct substantive focus, but the chapters will also share common emphases on: • The unique contributions of sociological social psychology • The historical roots of social psychological concepts and theories in classic sociological writings • The complementary and conflicting insights that derive from different social psychological traditions in sociology. This Handbook is of interest to graduate students preparing for careers in social psychology or in inequality, professional sociologists and university/college libraries.