• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 6, 2003

Research Brief: Demographic Sites to See

To keep up-to-date on ever-changing American demographics and lifestyles, here are some useful government web sites to review:

Where Americans are moving. The information is based on the 2000 census question asking people where they lived five years ago, providing details on the movement of the population between 1995 and 2000. Download summary reports or data files on migration between regions, divisions, states, counties, and metropolitan areas. Also available here is a special report on the migration of people aged 65 or older.

How parents and kids relate. Two-thirds of parents eat dinner with their school-aged children seven days a week. Eighty-six percent of parents want their children to achieve at least a college degree. These and many more fascinating statistics reveal . At this site you can download the hidden life of families report "A Child's Day: 2000" and tables that examine the interactions of parents and children. Material includes whether parents feel their child is hard to care for, whether children participate in sports, and whether a family has rules about television viewing. The data are from the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Imprisonment. 1 in 37 Americans has served time in state or federal prison. Among black men, the figure is an astounding one in six. These figures come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which collects data and publishes reports on crime, law enforcement, the courts, prisons, and prisoners. BJS reports can be accessed at this site, including the new report on prison experience, "Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population: 1974-2001."