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When the Bough Breaks: The Cost of Neglecting Our Children

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One of the things I like about this book is that instead of diminishing the role of men it points out their importance. It also shows government policies can make a big difference in the lives of children. It is full of shocking statistics. Did you know that 27% of kids don't graduate high school? That Medicare will pay for an 80 year old man to have bypass surgery while a poor woman cannot get free prenatal care? That if a pregnant women seeks treatment for drug addiction it is not easily available? However, once children are born prematurely or drug-addicted, society picks up a huge tab for that. Read this book and find out why and what changes the author recommends. Truly a remarkable contribution.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is one of the few economists concerned with this topic. This, along with her book "The War on Families", frame the issues quite well. Read both books for the entire perspective, since this book is older... But the problems remain...

Her idea that American families suffer from both a Time Deficit and a Resource Defict is one I still use in explaining these issues. Those twin deficits are still around today, and no one seems to address them. The increasing working hours and declining social services are not current political issues... We can add to that the increasing dependence on duel incomes: where both parents HAVE to work to make what they could in previous generations.

I suggest reading these books along with Neal Postman's "The Disapperance of Childhood". That book goes into the origins of childhood and how the creation of the mass media and institutionalization threatens it.