Children living with their Grandparents

In a recent report for the Pew Research CenterSocial and Demographic Trends, “At Grandmother’s House We Stay,” Gretchen Livingston said that one in ten children are living with a grandparent in 2011. The report is based on data from the 2000 Decennial Census and the 2005 – 2011 American Community Surveys both conducted by the U. S. Census and a nationally representative estimates of the U. S. population.

The chart shows that 7.7 million children in the U. S. live with a grandparent and grandparents provided care for about 3 million of those children. In 2000, the number of children who lived primarily with their grandparents was about 6 million. 

Read more:

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/09/04/at-grandmothers-house-we-stay/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/09/grandparents_report_final_2013.pdf

http://www.pewresearch.org/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/author/glivingston/

http://www.ipums.org/

http://www.census.gov/

3 in 4 Americans Feel College is Too Expensive

In a recent survey, the Pew Research Center presented the American public with this statement: "College costs in general are such that most people can afford to pay for a college education." Overwhelmingly, respondents disagreed with the statement.  75% did not agree, and only 22% felt that college costs are affordable.  Despite this response, the rapidly rising cost of college tuition has not swayed parents' feelings on the importance of a college education.  94% of parents want their children to go to college, even though 57% of Americans feel that colleges fail to offer students a valuable education that is on par with the high costs.  Only 5% of the public feel that college is of "excellent" value to students.  Much more respondents fell in the middle-ground, with 77% saying that college was of "only fair" to "good" value.  Additionally, though, it seems that college graduates are happy with their decision to enroll.  86% of graduates believe their investment in tuition was beneficial, and American Community Survey data supports this belief.  In 2009, the median income for college graduates was $46,931, whereas the median income for those with only a high school diploma was $27,381. 

62 Percent of Parents Provide Financial Assistance to Their 19- to 22-Year-Old Children

On May 3^rd, USA Today focused on a University of Michigan study regarding the proportion of parents who provide financial assistance to their 19- to 22-year-old children.  The lead author of the study, Patrick Wightman, found that 62% of young adults collect funds from their parents.  About 42% of parents assist with bills, 35% pay for a portion of tuition, and 23% help with vehicle costs.  Additionally, a little more than one in five parents contribute to their children’s rent and 11% provide their kids with loans.  82 % of wealthier parents (those making $99,910 or more a year) supported their children with some form of financial assistance, compared to 47% of lower income parents (those making less than $37,274).  However, regardless of wealth, parents who provided money to their children sent an equal share – about one tenth – of their income.

When Mom and Dad Become Big Brother

The Pew Internet & American Life Project released new findings on parental monitoring of teenage children's internet activity. According to Pew, "more than three-quarters (77%) of parents say that they have checked to see what websites their child has visited." Pew also found that "two-thirds of parents of online teens have checked to see what information was available online about their child."
More parents check a child's internet activity now than in 2006, when the figure stood at 65%. Pew writes: "White parents of online teens (83%) are more likely to check the websites of their browsing teens than black parents (75%) or Latino parents (64%). Parents in higher-income households and those with at least a high school diploma are also more likely than others to check up on their teen’s online travels."

Additionally, Mothers who use the internet (75%) are more likely than fathers (55%) to say they check information on their children on the internet. Further, "higher-income parents are more likely to do this than those who live in households with more modest incomes." White and black parents are more likely to report doing so than Latino parents, and parents with higher levels of education are also more likely to research their teenage child's "digital reputation." The percentage of parents of girls aged 14-17 (72%) researching their child's internet reputation far exceeds the 55% of parents who research information on younger sons' internet reputations.39% of parents are friends or connected with their children on social networking sites, but Pew found that this connection comes with an increased likelihood of parent-child conflict. "Teens whose parents report that they are friends with their child on social network sites are more likely than teens who aren’t friends with their parents to say that they had a problem with their parents because of an experience on social media (18% vs. 5%)."