"In the United States, long considered the land of opportunity, children born into different types of families begin life with very unequal prospects. A growing group of children is being raised in families in which a poorly educated mother begins childbearing at an early age, often outside marriage, and ends up dependent on public welfare. Another group is raised by parents who delay childbearing until they are well-educated, married, and have stable jobs; these children go on to lead more advantageous lives. While virtually everyone talks about the importance of investing in the next generation, in the late 1990s federal spending on children represented only 2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. This volume argues forcefully that the life prospects of children at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can be improved substantially-and the growing gap between them and more privileged children reduced-by making appropriate investments now. Taking their cue on funding from the Blair government in the United Kingdom, which since 1997 has invested almost an extra 1 percent of GDP to reducing child poverty, the contributors offer specific proposals, along with their rationales and costs, to improve early childhood education and health care, bolster family income and work, reduce teen pregnancy, encourage and strengthen marriage, and allow families to move to better neighborhoods. The final chapter assesses the progress of the Blair government toward reaching its goals. Contributors include Isabel Sawhill (Brookings Institution), Greg Duncan (Northwestern University), Katherine Magnuson (Columbia University), Andrea Kane (Brookings Institution), Sara McLanahan (Princeton University), Irwin Garfinkel (Columbia University), Robert Haveman (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Jens Ludwig (Georgetown University), David Armor (George Mason University), Barbara Wolfe (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Scott Scrivner (Public/Private Ventures), and John Hills (London School of Economics). "

Americans believe economic opportunity is as fundamental a right as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. More concerned about a level playing field for all, they worry less about the growing income and wealth disparity in our country. "Creating an Opportunity Society" examines economic opportunity in the United States and explores how to create more of it, particularly for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill propose a concrete agenda for increasing opportunity that is cost effective, consistent with American values, and focuses on improving the lives of the young and the disadvantaged. They emphasize individual responsibility as an indispensable basis for successful policies and programs.

The authors recommend a three-pronged approach to create more opportunity in America:

- Increase education for children and youth at the preschool, K?12, and postsecondary levels

- Encourage and support work among adults

- Reduce the number of out-of-wedlock births while increasing the share of children reared by their married parents

With concern for the federal deficit in mind, Haskins and Sawhill argue for reallocating existing resources, especially from the affluent elderly to disadvantaged children and their families. The authors are optimistic that a judicious use of the nation's resources can level the playing field and produce more opportunity for all.

"Creating an Opportunity Society" offers the most complete summary available of the facts and the factors that contribute to economic opportunity. It looks at the poor, the middle class, and the rich, providing deep background data on how each group has fared in recent decades. Unfortunately, only the rich have made substantial progress, making this book a timely guide forward for anyone interested in what we can do as a society to improve the prospects for our less-advantaged families and fellow citizens.

"The United States is standing at a critical juncture in its fiscal outlook. After experiencing a brief period of budget surpluses at the turn of the century, the federal government will run deficits that add about $4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Substantial deficits will likely continue long into the future because the looming retirement of the baby boom generation will raise spending in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. At the same time, the federal government appears to be neglecting spending in key areas of social and economic policy. The nation thus faces a vital choice: continue down a path toward future fiscal crisis while under investing in critical areas, or increase resources in high-priority areas while also reducing the overall budget deficit. This choice will materially affect Americans' economic status and security in the immediate future as well as over long horizons. In R estoring Fiscal Sanity, a group of Brookings scholars with high-level government experience provide an overview of the country's likely medium- and long-term spending needs and the resources available to pay for them. They propose three alternative fiscal paths that are more responsible than the current path. One plan emphasizes spending cuts, the second emphasizes revenue increases, and a third is a balanced mix between the two. The contributors address the policy choices in such areas as defense, homeland security, international assistance, and programs targeted to the less advantaged, the elderly, and other domestic priorities. In the process, they provide an understanding of the short- and long-run trade offs and illustrate how the budget can be reshaped to achieve high priority objectives in a fiscally responsible way. "

Over half of all births to young adults in the United States now occur outside of marriage. A large proportion are unplanned. These facts suggest that today's young adults are drifting into relationships and are often unprepared for parenthood. What kind of future does this mean for their kids and for society as a whole?

In "Generation Unbound," Isabel V. Sawhill discusses likely causes for recent changes in the family, such as an increase in women's economic opportunities, the declining economic prospects of men, greater access to birth control and abortion, and new social norms that allow young people more choice --but provide less guidance on what it means to be an adult.

Isabel V. Sawhill reveals an emerging class divide in patterns of marriage and childbearing: at the top of the ladder are "planners," who are marrying and having children only after establishing a career; at the bottom, and increasingly in the middle, are "drifters" who are having unplanned children early, outside of marriage, and without the stable support of a second parent. This divide is contributing to rising inequality and less social mobility in the U.S.

Isabel V. Sawhill sees merit in the views of those on the political left, who argue for more social supports for the less advantaged, including more educational opportunities, expanded child care, parental leave, family-friendly workplaces, and financial assistance. She also agrees with those on the right who argue for traditional marriage as the best environment for raising children. But, she argues that public policies aimed at restoring marriage have not worked and that existing social supports cannot keep pace with an ongoing tide of childbearing outside of marriage. Instead, she points to a third way: greater personal responsibility among potential parents themselves. Drawing on new insights from behavioral economics, and the promise of new long-acting contraceptives, she suggests a future in which more children will be born to adults who want and are prepared to be parents. Contents

1. An Introduction

2. Changes in the Family: More Diversity, a Bigger Divide

3. Why We Should Worry: The Consequences of Choices about Marriage and Childbearing

4. A Growing Class Divide: Planners vs. Drifters

5. The Traditionalists vs. the Villagers: Why Government Alone Can't Solve the Marriage Problem

6. Making Better Decisions: The Need to Change the Default

7. Peering into the Future: Less Marriage, Fewer Children?

In recent years American's political system has not performed as well as its economic system. While the strong economy of the past decade should provide policy makers with the opportunity to move forward on long-term social and economic goals, they seem stuck in the mindset of short-term fixes and shrill oratory common to leaner times. Focusing on three issues--productivity growth, income inequality and the aging of the baby-boom generation--this concise volume describes a "radically moderate" agenda that captures or political moment. The distinguished authors begin by acknowledging the difficult tradeoffs required for revamping programs for the aged and poor while keeping the economy growing. They then untangle the complexities of the policy debate and propose sensible ways to move American into the new century.