The U.S. Census Bureau released three reports today:

• Participation of Mothers in Government Assistance Programs: 2001 reveals that 29.4 percent of women who had a child in the previous year participated in at least one of six public assistance programs. That was down more than 10 percentage points from the 41.5 percent rate in 1996, the year welfare reform was enacted. Internet address (with detailed tables): <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>
  <http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p70-102.pdf> [PDF]
  
  
  
• Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961-2000 examines trends in maternity leave and the employment patterns of women who gave birth to their first child during the last four decades of the 20th century. Among the findings: About 57 percent of new mothers worked full time during their pregnancy in the late 1990s and 2000, up from 40 percent in the early 1960s. Internet address:
  <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/fertility.html>
  <http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p70-103.pdf> [PDF]
  
  
  
• Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Winter 2002 is the latest report, in a series that dates back to 1985, that examines trends in child care usage and costs over the past two decades. Families with a working mother and children under age 15 spent an average of $95 a week on child care in 2002, compared with $67 in 1985 (in 2002 constant dollars). Internet address (with detailed tables):
  <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/childcare.html>
  <http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p70-101.pdf> [PDF]

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All three reports use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.