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    Head Start: President’s Scaremongering Won’t Work

    On Tuesday, President Obama criticized Representative Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget proposal as making “draconian cuts” to federal spending programs. In particular, the President said, “If this budget becomes law and the cuts were applied evenly, starting in 2014, over 200,000 children would lose their chance to get an early education … More

    Family Fact of the Week: The Far-Reaching Impact of Divorce

    While divorce at any age comes with potentially negative effects, according to new research from Michigan State University, divorce at a younger age can hurt people’s health more than divorce that occurs later in life. In fact—given that younger couples are also more likely to have children living at home—the … More

    School Choice: One Student’s Chance for a Better Life

    Joseph Kelley knew something was wrong when his son Rashawn flunked first grade. “I knew he knew his alphabet forward and backward, he knew how to count to 100 forward and backward,” Kelley said. He had taught Rashawn these things himself. Rashawn’s teachers were surprised to find out that he … More

    Muppet Lily: One of the Few Hungry Children in America

    There’s a new kid on the block. Muppet Lily joined Elmo and Big Bird on the cast of Sesame Street last month. Despite Lily’s bright pink face looking cheery and healthy in her debut episode, the audience found out that Lily deals with hunger and food insecurity. Sesame Street’s newest … More

    When Fathers Become ‘Courageous’

    The critical importance of committed fatherhood to the well-being of children is the theme of  “Courageous,” the latest little faith-based movie that could from Georgia-based brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick. The film made a strong beginning at hitting home: “Courageous” was Fandango’s weeklong king of advance ticket sales as it … More

    One in Five Children Poor—but What Does That Mean?

    Today a new report was released indicating nearly one in five children in the U.S. is poor. The report, from the Annie Casey Foundation, was technically correct; it followed conventional Census procedures for identifying poor children. But what does it mean to be “poor” in the U.S.? Government data show … More

    Americans React to Government’s Ban on Crib Sales

    Tuesday’s deadline for retailers to dispose of any unsold cribs has come and gone, but won’t soon be forgotten. Americans are speaking out about the unintended consequences of the government’s regulatory efforts. Commissioner Anne Northup of the Consumer Product Safety Commission posted reactions on her blog. Northup and Nancy Nord, … More

    Good News on Marriage: A Recent Rise in Durability

    A new chart from Heritage FamilyFacts.org bears good news: Recent marriages are lasting longer. This is great for happily committed couples, and it also represents a boon for civil society because of the social and economic benefits marriage provides. Commitment to marriage steadily declined from 1960 to the early 1980s, … More

    A Marshall Plan for Marriage – Rebuilding Our Shattered Homes

    Marriage in America is in serious trouble. More Americans are cohabitating, fewer are marrying, and if they do wed it is at a much later age than previous generations. Although divorce rates have declined slightly over the past 20 years, pervasive no-fault divorce laws allow marital dissolution to continue plaguing … More

    Message for Mother’s Day: Parenting Matters

    The approach of Mother’s Day brings to mind the great parenting debate du jour and the very vocal public reaction to the tenets of the Tiger Mom—a style of mothering that pushes and presses children to achieve and won’t settle for second best. On the other side of the straight-laced … More