Dear Friends,
As we start a new academic year, we are pleased to share with you this newsletter issue highlighting recent academic research, essays in the media, policy action, and other items relevant to the study of families and the well-being of parents and children.
Specifically, we highlight a new academic study on how joint custody affects outcomes for fathers, mothers, and children. We share recent media pieces that draw on insights and research from SFRI affiliated faculty. Our "What We're Reading" section highlights external research and data that has caught our attention, including a story about a new family policy in Singapore, data on who might benefit from the Trump accounts, and more.
As always, we invite you to share with us your feedback and research, and we ask that you please share this newsletter with anyone who might find it useful. Thank you for following the work of the Strengthening Families Research Initiative (SFRI)!
Sincerely,
|
|
|
|
| Joint Custody Improves Outcomes for Fathers and Children After Divorce
|
|
|
|
Family Focus: Custody arrangements are among the most consequential decisions families face after divorce, yet rigorous casual evidence remains scarce. This research finds that joint custody, in marginal cases, substantially raises fathers’ earnings, improves their mental health, and strengthens children’s academic achievement, with no measurable costs to children’s mental health, mothers’ outcomes, or the risk of family conflict. While custody arrangements are typically debated as a question of parental rights, they are also important levers for economic stability and child development.
|
|
|
|
Podcast Interview: Demographic Headwinds: Fewer Babies, Longer Lives, and What it means for the Economy |
Econofact - Melissa Kearney (Faculty Director)
|
|
| College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind |
Fortune - Melissa Kearney (Faculty Director); Riley Wilson (Faculty Affiliate); and Benny Goldman (Faculty Affiliate)
|
|
|
|
How OxyContin and the Opioid Epidemic Reshaped American Communities |
ProMarket - Victoria Barone (Faculty Affiliate)
|
|
| Are Men to Blame for the Birth-Rate Collapse?
|
The Atlantic - SFRI research by Melissa Kearney (Faculty Director) and Phillip Levine (Faculty Affiliate)
|
|
|
|
We track evolving policy debates and reforms with meaningful implications for families across the country.
|
🤖 Federal Grants Advance Predictive Analytics in Child Welfare |
|
|
|
The Administration for Children and Families awarded $6 million across 10 jurisdictions in August 2026 to pilot predictive analytics tools that support decisions like hotline screening, investigation triage, and case review in child welfare. The jurisdictions – Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, along with the Muscogee Creek Nation and the District of Columbia – all received one-time grants. The three-year pilot programs are expected to begin September 30th.
ACF Announcement | SFRI Predictive Analytics Policy Brief
|
|
|
|
👶 Growing Appetite for Cash Support After Birth |
|
|
|
Congress and the White House are increasingly turning to direct financial incentives as a tool for supporting new parents. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, established "Trump Accounts" – tax-advantaged savings accounts seeded with $1,000 in federal funds on behalf of every eligible American newborn, with deposits beginning in July 2026. Building on that momentum, a bipartisan group of House members introduced the Supporting Newborn Parents Act in May 2026, which would provide a $2,000 refundable tax credit payable at or shortly after birth – designed to address the immediate financial costs of a new child rather than waiting until tax season.
Trump Accounts | Supporting Newborn Parents Act
|
|
|
|
🏠 Congress Advances Support for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care |
|
|
|
The House unanimously passed the Fostering the Future Act in May 2026, sending landmark bipartisan legislation to the Senate that would make the most significant updates to the federal Chafee Foster Care Program since its creation in 1999. The package would expand Education and Training Vouchers – federal funds available to former foster youth for post-secondary education – to cover GED programs, apprenticeships, and remedial education, while also increasing the annual voucher cap. A companion bill introduced in July 2026 would address housing instability for aging-out youth, one of the most acute and well-documented risks for this population.
Fostering the Future Act
|
|
|
|
Research: Investing in Mothers? The Long-Run Impact of a Universal Child Care Program on Maternal Work and Income |
NBER - Michael Baker, Jonathan Gruber & Kevin S. Milligan
|
|
|
Report: A Digital Divide in American Adolescence: Gender, Class, and the New Teenage Experience |
American Enterprise Institute's Survey Center on American Life - Daniel A. Cox
|
|
|
|
Research: Childhood Exposure to Joint Custody Reforms and Adult Family Formation |
IZA - Daniel Fernández-Kranz and Sébastien Fontenay
|
|
|
Report: Awareness of Trump Accounts Is Lowest Among Families Who Stand to Gain Most |
Urban Institute - Madeline Brown, Andrew Anderson, & Catherine K. Ettman
|
|
|
|
Article: Singapore’s Lawrence Wong unveils major pro-family measures amid record low fertility |
South China Morning Post - Jean Iau
|
|
| |
|
| Follow us on X for more regular updates on what we're working on and what we're following
|
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
100 Jenkins Nanovic Halls JNH 3060 | Notre Dame, IN 46556 US
|
|
|
|
This email was sent to spetitt@nd.edu.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
|
|
|
|
