Children & Child Care

Bonfire of the Disney Princesses

Barbara Ehrenreich : Television

Disney's idea of sex doesn't belong in the pre-K playroom. Parents, unite: make a holiday bonfire of all that plastic and tulle: let your girls be girls again.
The Gap: New Frontiers in Child Abuse

Barbara Ehrenreich : Sweatshops

The Gap has been caught selling garments made by child slaves in India. It's enough to make you vomit all over your new denim jacket.
The Kids Aren't Alright

Sharon Lerner : Government Programs

President Bush's neglect of government-sponsored childcare programs has a steep price. Children are paying.
Sick Kids' Laugh Riot

Annabelle Gurwitch : Health Care Policy

Dear Congressional Democrats: Here's a funny story about what it's like to have a really sick kid, even if you do have insurance.
Let the CHIPs Fall...

Trudy Lieberman : Health Insurance

Bush has turned renewal of a successful child health insurance program from a no-brainer to a battle on the future of healthcare.
Sick Children, Working Moms

Ellen Bravo : Working Conditions

Guilt-ridden mothers send ailing kids to school or daycare for fear of losing their jobs. Isn't it time for paid family leave?
Summer Lunch Crunch

Herman Schwartz : Poverty

It's going to be a hungry summer for low-income kids on vacation from school lunch programs.
A Dangerous Little Beehive?

Rosa Miriam Elizalde : Theater

A Cuban children's troupe has performed around the globe but finds it almost impossible to enter the United States.
Europeans Do It Better

Katha Pollitt

In an overpopulated and warming world, isn't it weird that governments are encouraging large families?
Judge Not?

Patricia J. Williams

The case of a severely disabled 9-year-old girl whose parents subjected her to a series of nonessential surgeries raises troubling questions about medical ethics and public policy.
The Care Crisis

Ruth Rosen : Feminism & Women

Working mothers can't pamper their stress away--their balancing act needs a political fix.
Home Truths

The Editors : U.S. Economy

That poor children in the United States and Britain have the worst quality of life in the developed world speaks volumes about our misplaced priorities.

2006

Felonious Intent

Patricia J. Williams : The Courts

The prosecution of an 8-year-old in New York for wrongful homicide in a school bus accident invokes the "wild child" hysteria of the Central Park jogger case.
A 'Top Ten' List of Bold Ideas

Gar Alperovitz & Thad Williamson : Progressives, Liberals, & The American Left

To take back the nation in the post-Bush era, start thinking now about some bold but plausible progressive reforms, from universal health insurance to free daycare and a shorter work week.

2005

Genes, Genius, Genies

Patricia J. Williams : Reproductive Rights

The right has ushered in a moment of cult celebrity for the pre-born. But let's not be seduced by this idea of personhood. Remember the poor and not-so-perfect post-born children of America? Aren't they persons, too?
Before School

David L. Kirp : Education Policy & Reform

San Francisco recently launched universal preschool, designed to make young participants higher earners and better citizens when they reach adulthood. If successful, San Francisco's initiative could make preschool as commonplace as kindergarten.
Failing Students, Rising Profits

Annette Fuentes : Business

The Community Education Partners (CEP) serves students the public schools don't want--and it makes millions.
The Family World System

Perry Anderson : Non-Fiction

The family in the twentieth century.
Beyond the Pale

Patricia J. Williams : Law & Justice

A closer look at sexual abuse cases makes the questions surrounding them even murkier.
Supernanny State

Alfie Kohn : Television

TV shows that tell you how not to raise your children.
The 'Ick' Factor: Villains, Veils and Vision

Patricia J. Williams : Law & Justice

While Jackson's trial is appalling, it is not the stuff of ordinary tabloid catharsis.
Habeas Corpus

Patricia J. Williams : Law & Justice