Publications

Survey Details: Conducted October 2008 File Release Date: 4 December 2009

Instead of traveling across country or across town for Thanksgiving this year, many grown sons and daughters will be coming to dinner from their old bedroom down the hall, which now doubles as their recession-era refuge.

The share of 18- to 24-year-olds attending college in the United States hit an all-time high in October 2008, driven by a recession-era surge in enrollments at community colleges.

Survey Details: Conducted June-July 2008 File Release Date: 1 October 2009

Marriage, divorce and remarriage rates vary significantly among states as do average education and income levels. Analysis of new Census data reveals some interesting patterns.

The proportion of Americans who are currently married has been diminishing for decades and is lower than it has been in at least half a century.

Women now make up almost half of the U.S. labor force, up from 38% in 1970. The public approves of this trend, but the change has come with a cost for many women -- particularly working mothers of young children, who feel the tug of family responsibility much more acutely than do working fathers.

It may surprise anyone who has been following the charges of racism that have flared up during the debate over President Obama's health care proposals, but the American public doesn't see race as the source of the strongest social conflict in the country today.

Self-employed adults are significantly more satisfied with their jobs than other workers. They're also more likely to work because they want to and not because they need a paycheck.

Older adults are staying in the labor force longer, and younger adults are staying out of it longer. Both trends intensified with the recession and are expected to continue after the economy recovers. One reason: Older workers value not just a paycheck, but the psychological and social rewards.