by Lyman Stone (@lymanstoneky), Michael Toscano and Ken Burchfiel (@KBurchfiel3)
Most Americans have a general sense of which states are rich or poor, urban or rural, “Red” or “Blue.” But a map of parenting is more mysterious: there is very little credible, comparable data about what parenting and childhood is like around the United States. As a result, when parents talk to each other about the challenges of parenting, or when policymakers consider what policies will support families, these conversations often happen “in the dark.” We remedy that gap in a new Institute for Family Studies research brief based on a survey of almost 24,000 U.S. parents of over 40,000 children, including 2,600 teenagers. By sampling parents around the country, this new research shows how parenting varies nationwide on several key axes. (Check out the interactive map below for more.)
