View Research by Author - Jason Ost

Publications

This paper examines the child care arrangements of white, black, and Hispanic children by different child and family characteristics. The findings suggest that white children drive national child care patterns, masking different patterns among black and Hispanic children. The findings also indicate that while white, black, and Hispanic children come from families with different characteristics, only a few of the characteristics examined in the paper help to explain the variation in child care use among the groups. Other important characteristics (e.g.,income) were less helpful in understanding why white, black, and Hispanic children are placed in different forms of care.

U.S. schools are experiencing rapid demographic change due to high levels of immigration, while they at the same time they are implementing the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB holds schools accountable for the performance of limited English proficient (LEP) children and other groups that include many children of immigrants. This report describes the demographics of children of immigrants, and the considerable overlap among NCLB's protected groups: LEPs, low-income students, blacks, Hispanics and Asians. The report describes variations in characteristics among children with parents born in different countries, and discusses implications for NCLB implementation in high-LEP schools and districts. [View the corresponding press release]

There are 5.1 million young children of immigrants, representing 22 percent of all U.S. children under age 6. While 93 percent of these children are U.S.-born citizens, 29 percent have undocumented parents. Young children of immigrants with two parents are three times as likely to be poor as children of natives, and so marriage is not an antidote to poverty for these children. Despite higher economic hardship, young children of immigrants are less likely than native counterparts to receive TANF, food stamps, or housing assistance. They are also less likely to be in center-based child care, potentially limiting their preparation for schooling. [View the corresponding press release]

This brief summarizes the findings of the report, "The Health and Well-Being of Young Children of Immigrants", which focuses on the 5.1 million children of immigrants under age 6 in the United States. Young children of immigrants with two parents are three times as likely to be poor as children of natives, and so marriage is not an antidote to poverty for these children. Despite higher economic hardship, young children of immigrants are less likely than native counterparts to receive TANF, food stamps, or housing assistance. They are also less likely to be in center-based child care, potentially limiting their preparation for schooling.

The same-sex marriage debate has focused heavily on Massachusetts, the first state to initiate legal marriages for same-sex couples. New Jersey appears to be the next battleground in this controversial debate. This research brief offers insights into the issues at stake in New Jersey's same-sex marriage debate, especially those related to children being raised by gay and lesbian couples. Findings from Census 2000 suggest that between 10,000 and 12,400 children are being raised by gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey. Many of the rights associated with marriage, like access to health insurance and social security survivor benefits, are designed to provide some economic protection for children. The data confirm that New Jersey's same-sex families with children are already at some economic disadvantage compared to their heterosexual counterparts. The lack of marriage rights could be exacerbating that situation.

While the words "we are everywhere" can be frequently heard at gay and lesbian political events, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas provides the first empirical confirmation of this rallying cry. Drawing on the most recent data from the U.S. Census, this groundbreaking work offers a detailed geographic and demographic portrait of gay and lesbian families in all 50 states plus the top 25 U.S. metropolitan areas. These results, presented in more than 250 full-color maps and charts, will both confirm and challenge anecdotal information about the spatial distribution and demographic characteristics of this community. It is probably no surprise that San Francisco, Key West, and western Massachusetts all host large gay and lesbian populations, but it might surprise some that Houston, Texas, contains one of the ten "gayest" neighborhoods in the country, or that Alaska and New Mexico have high concentrations of gay and lesbian couples in their senior populations. The Atlas is a unique and important resource for the political and public policy communities, public health officials, social scientists, and anyone interested in gay and lesbian issues

The Gay and Lesbian Atlas, by demographer Gary Gates and researcher Jason Ost, is the first book to give a detailed geographic account of America's gay and lesbian households. Published by the Urban Institute Press, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas mines Census 2000 data on the characteristics of 594,391 same-sex "unmarried partner" couples, offering a unique statistical portrait that confirms some anecdotal perceptions of this understudied community and challenges others. These fact sheets encapsulate findings from the Atlas regarding the location patterns of various kinds of gay and lesbian households.

The Urban Institute developed this profile of the foreign-born in Lowell, Massachusetts for members of the One Lowell Coalition: a regional coalition working on immigrant and refugee integration. The profile describes Lowell's immigrant population in terms of its growth, diversity, settlement patterns, English language ability, poverty, and citizenship trends.

The Urban Institute developed this profile of the foreign-born in Nashville, Tennessee for members of the Nashville New American Coalition: a regional coalition working on immigrant and refugee integration. The profile describes Nashville's immigrant population in terms of its growth, diversity, settlement patterns, English language ability, poverty, and citizenship trends.

The Urban Institute developed this profile of the foreign-born in Portland, Oregon for members of Project Interwoven Tapestry: a regional coalition working on immigrant and refugee integration. The profile describes Portland's immigrant population in terms of its growth, diversity, settlement patterns, English language ability, poverty, and citizenship trends.

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