Jennifer Ludden

Stay-At-Home Dads, Breadwinner Moms and Making It All Work

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:32:00 +0000

The next time you see a father out shopping with his kids, you might need to check your assumptions.

"I'll get the, 'Oh, look, it's a dad! That's so sweet!' "says Jonathan Heisey-Grove, a stay-at-home father of two young boys in Alexandria, Va., who is pretty sure the other person assumes he's just giving Mom a break for the day.

Attorney For Notorious Clients A Quiet Defender

Jennifer Ludden — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:34:00 +0000

Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Arizona mass shooter Jared Loughner all have one thing in common: defense attorney Judy Clarke. With her help, all three avoided the death penalty.

Clarke routinely faces an enraged public, top-notch prosecutors and difficult, often disturbed clients.

Filling In The Gap On Climate Education In Classrooms

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:58:00 +0000

The auditorium at James Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md., is packed when Cy Maramangalam strolls onstage, sporting jeans and a shaved head.

"All right, how's everyone doing today?" he says to rousing cheers. It feels as if he's about to introduce a hot new band, but Maramangalam is with the Alliance for Climate Education, or ACE, and he's here to talk climate change. In the past few years, the nonprofit has put on multimedia presentations for more than 1 million students across the country.

Moving Out And Buying In: Single Ladies Emerge As Homeowners

Jennifer Ludden — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:24:00 +0000

It's hard to remember that just a few decades ago it was difficult, if not impossible, for a woman alone to take out a mortgage. Federal legislation changed that.

And yet, it's still surprising to learn how dominant single women have become in the housing market today: Their share is second only to married couples, and twice that of single men.

In Washington, D.C., Amanda Cowley lives in her dream home — a century-old rowhouse in a gentrifying part of the city. The 37-year-old and her boisterous dog, Sadie, moved in at the end of last year.

A Hot Topic: Climate Change Coming To Classrooms

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:31:00 +0000

By the time today's K-12 students grow up, the challenges posed by climate change are expected to be severe and sweeping. Now, for the first time, new nationwide science standards due out soon will recommend that U.S.

Children Of Gay Parents Support Same-Sex Marriage

Jennifer Ludden — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:53:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMLZO-sObzQ

Modern Parenthood: More Equal, More Stressed

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:27:00 +0000

If you've ever had a spousal spat over who logs more time on housework, child care, or at the office, you might want to see how you stack up against other couples.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds fathers spend three times as many hours a week on child care, and twice as much on housework, as they did in the 1960s.

Stay-At-Home Workers Defend Choice After Yahoo Ban

Jennifer Ludden — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:59:00 +0000

Yahoo's sweeping edict against telecommuting has been felt as a personal attack by some of the two-thirds of Americans who regularly work from home.

Lawyer Shannan Higgins of Washington, D.C., finds one line of the company memo outlining the policy change particularly offensive: "Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."

For nearly a decade, Higgins has worked one day a week from the basement office in her rowhouse, where she takes pride in her work and is obsessed with efficiency.

"It's a huge morale booster to be given that flexibility," she says.

Forecasting Climate With A Chance Of Backlash

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:14:00 +0000

When it comes to climate change, Americans place great trust in their local TV weathercaster, which has led climate experts to see huge potential for public education.

The only problem? Polls show most weather presenters don't know much about climate science, and many who do are fearful of talking about something so polarizing.

In fact, if you have heard a weathercaster speak on climate change, it's likely been to deny it.

FMLA Not Really Working For Many Employees

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:24:00 +0000

Twenty years after President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, workers' rights groups say many employees still must choose between their family or their job.

They're marking the anniversary with calls to expand the law, and for Congress to pass a new one that would provide paid leave.

What Falls Under The FMLA?

FMLA provides up to 12 weeks per year of unpaid leave if an employee has a new baby or a serious illness in the family.

Debate Over Rebuilding Beaches Post-Sandy Creates Waves

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:21:00 +0000

For a half-century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been in the beach business, dredging up new sand as shorelines wash away. Federal disaster aid for Superstorm Sandy could provide billions more for beach rebuilding, and that has revived an old debate: Is this an effective way to protect against storms, or a counterproductive waste of tax dollars?

On a recent blustery day at Virginia Beach, the latest beach nourishment project is in full swing.

An Abundance Of Extreme Weather Has Many On Edge

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Opinion polls show 2012's extreme weather — producing wildfires, floods and drought — has more people making a connection with climate change. For Marti Andrews in southern New Jersey, a turning point was the summer's hurricane-like derecho.

"I don't want to say I freaked out about it, but holy crap, it scared me," she says. It packed winds up to 90 miles per hour and nonstop lightning, which Andrews says looked like some wild disco display in the sky.

"I've never seen anything like that," she says.

Debating The Impact Of An Immigration Crackdown

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:34:00 +0000

In 2007, when Virginia's Prince William County ordered police to check the immigration status of anyone they had "probable cause" to suspect was in the U.S. unlawfully, the impact was swift at family restaurant Ricos Tacos Moya.

"Suddenly nobody showed up," says Stacey Moya, an employee, and daughter of the owner. "Nobody was around. Not one soul. We would go hours without any customers, any clients. Nothing."

After community protests, the policy was soon watered down.

Finding A Child Online: How The Web Is Transforming Adoption

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:20:00 +0000

When Eric James and his partner, Zerxes Spencer, decided to adopt last year, they signed on with Adoptions Together, a reputable agency close to their home in Maryland. They attended the agency's seminars to learn about the process, met other "waiting parents" and formed personal bonds with the staff. But there was just one problem.

"When we entered the pool, we were looking at generally a two- to three-year wait," says James.

In Wake Of Recession, Immigrant Births Plunge

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 22:43:00 +0000

A new report finds the U.S. birth rate has dropped to its lowest level on record, led by a dramatic decline in births among immigrant women. The trend has been visible at La Clinica del Pueblo, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that holds a weekly neonatal clinic.

"We went from about 100 [pregnancies] to 90, to 80, another year with 80, and then 70," says Dr. Madeline Wilks. Her patients are largely foreign-born Hispanics. Some are in the U.S.

Parent Over Shoulder: Apps Help Mom Snoop Online, But Should She?

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:57:00 +0000

When his teenage son ventured into social media, Virginia father Mike Robinson wanted to make sure he could keep tabs on him. Robinson works in IT, so he rigged a surveillance system that works no matter what kind of device either of them is on.

"It's sort of like a version of remote desktop that enables you to run the program kind of silently in the background," Robinson says.

One day, checking in from his iPhone, Robinson discovered that his son had come across an adult meet-up site on Facebook.

"It wasn't that he was ... trying to find people," he says.

Home Health Aides Often As Old As Their Clients

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:47:00 +0000

In a red brick rambler in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., Onether Lowery begins her daily shift as a caregiver. She skillfully helps 86-year-old Rosalie Lewis into her electric wheelchair, holding her from the back, then bending over to ease her down.

It's an impressive feat: Lowery herself is 80 years old.

"My mother, she was 89 when she passed away," Lowery says. "I took care of her and I just fell in love with older people. I get along with them very well."

As America ages, its 2.5 million home health workers are graying right along with the clients they care for.

Home Health Aides: In Demand, Yet Paid Little

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:37:00 +0000

The home care workforce — some 2.5 million strong — is one of the nation's fastest growing yet also worst paid. Turnover is high, and with a potential labor shortage looming as the baby boomers age, there are efforts to attract more people to the job.

One such effort plays out in a large, sunny room in a Bronx high-rise, where Cooperative Home Care Associates holds an extensive, monthlong training program. On a recent day, two dozen women paired off at rows of hospital beds.

New Groups Make A Conservative Argument On Climate Change

Jennifer Ludden — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:59:00 +0000

One topic you don't hear much about from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is climate change. Like so much else, it's become politically divisive, with polls showing Republicans far less likely to believe in it or support policies to address it.

But two new groups aim to work from within, using conservative arguments to win over skeptics.

Former South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis has already paid a price for being out of step with his party.

Can Marriage Save Single Mothers From Poverty?

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 07:35:00 +0000

Newly released census figures show a long-standing and glaring contrast: A third of families headed by single mothers are in poverty, and they are four times more likely than married-couple families to be poor. The disparity is on the rise, and as the number of single mothers grows, analysts are debating if more marriages could mean less poverty.

For many conservatives, the answer is simple: Promote marriages as a balm for poverty.

Would-Be Parents Wait As Foreign Adoptions Plunge

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:27:00 +0000

When Barb and Mike Cannata adopted their first daughter from China almost a decade ago, the process was smooth and relatively quick — just 17 months from start to finish.

Now a chatty and confident 9-year-old, Emma is an accomplished equestrian with her show horse, Ajax. But the family had trouble explaining to Emma why it took so long to get her a little sister.

When the Cannatas decided to adopt again in 2007, Barb Cannata says, everything had changed.

Call Me Maybe When Your School Loan Is Paid In Full

Jennifer Ludden — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:09:00 +0000

The increasing debt load of college graduates has affected young people's lives in untold ways, from career choices to living arrangements. Now add another impact on a key part of young adult life: dating and marriage.

Rachel Bingham, an art teacher in Portland, Maine, learned this a few years back, when a guy broke it off after four months of a budding relationship. Among other reasons, he cited her $80,000 in student loan debt.

"He said it scared him," she recalls, "that it really made him anxious.

Big Crime, Little State: Murder, Mystery In R.I.

Jennifer Ludden — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:22:00 +0000

Providence, R.I., has a history of mob violence rivaling that of New York or New Jersey, but it comes with a gritty intimacy that could only be found in the nation's littlest state. Author Bruce DeSilva says that's what makes Providence the perfect place to set his crime fiction.

"It is big enough to have the usual array of urban problems," he says. "But it's so small that it's claustrophobic. It's very hard to keep a secret in places like that."

That smallness has also made crime something like a spectator sport in the city.

Buried In Debt, Young People Find Dreams Elusive

Jennifer Ludden — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 09:51:00 +0000

Growing up near Philadelphia, Michelle Holshue's dream was to serve those in need. Applying to nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania seemed like a smart move — in 2007.

Nursing jobs were plentiful. The students' running joke was that hospital executives would soon be stopping them in the street, begging them to come to work.

Single Dads By Choice: More Men Going It Alone

Jennifer Ludden — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 07:02:00 +0000
B.J. Holt always wanted to be a dad. As he approached 40, with no life partner in sight, he felt a version of the ticking biological clock.
"The 'having the children thing' started to overwhelm the desire to have the relationship first," Holt says. "They sort of switched on me."
So Holt decided to go it alone.

College Grads Struggle To Gain Financial Footing

Jennifer Ludden — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:54:00 +0000
Most of the estimated 1.5 million people graduating from a four-year college this spring will soon be looking for a job.
If the experiences of other recent college grads are any guide, many will be disappointed.
A new Rutgers University survey of those who graduated from college between 2006 and 2011 finds that just half of those grads are working full time.
Settling For Part Time
"I thought I wasn't going to get a job," says Caitlin LaCour, who entered Columbia College Chic