Two Generations, One Future; Moving Parents and Children Beyond Poverty Together
The United States in 2012 is at a crossroads about ways to ensure that all its people fuel progress in the 21st century. By creating partnerships across programs, policies, and systems that are now focused separately on children and parents, we can create an America in which a legacy of economic security and educational success passes from one generation to the next. We believe this vision shows a way forward. This report offers a framework for the ways in which new two-generation strategies can help parents, especially women, and children achieve their dreams together. Download the Report.

Ascend Commissions Bipartisan Lake Research Partners and American Viewpoint Focus Groups: "Toward a Two-Generation Strategy: Voices of American Families"
As America struggles to regain its economic footing, the nation's most vulnerable families – parents of young children who live at 200% of poverty or less – express strong feelings of frustration with their current lives, but they are working hard to ensure that their children have better lives, according to new focus group research. Single mothers in particular are optimistic about a brighter future for their children, and hold opportunity as an important value and economic opportunity as a key goal. Download the Report.

Ascend Commissions Child Trends Data Analysis of Vulnerable American Families: "Two Generations in Poverty: U.S. Status and Trends Among Parents and Children"
The younger the parent and the younger the child, the more likely a family is to be poor, according to a new Child Trends report, commissioned by Ascend: The Family Economic Security Program at the Aspen Institute. As policy makers ponder the merits of alternative measures of poverty, the Child Trends report outlines the disproportionate effects of poverty on young children, young parents, and children and parents in single-mother families. Learn more. Download the Report.