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Jennifer Ludden

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Jennifer Ludden is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. She covers a range of stories on family life and social issues.

In recent years, Ludden has reported on the changing economics of marriage, the changing face of retirement as the baby boomers enter old age, and the ethical challenges of modern reproductive technology.

Ludden helped cover national security after the 9/11 attacks, then reported on the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants as well as Congressional efforts to pass a sweeping legalization. She traveled to the Philippines for a story on how an overburdened immigration bureaucracy keeps families separated for years, and to El Salvador to profile migrants who had been deported or turned back at the border.

Prior to moving into her current assignment in 2002, Ludden spent six years as a foreign reporter for NPR covering the Middle East, Europe, and West and Central Africa. She followed the collapse of the decade-long Oslo peace process, shared in two awards (Overseas Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists) for NPR's coverage of the Kosovo war in 1999, and won the Robert F. Kennedy award for her coverage of the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When not navigating war zones, Ludden reported on cultural trends, including the dying tradition of storytellers in Syria, the emergence of Persian pop music in Iran, and the rise of a new form of urban polygamy in Africa.

Before joining NPR in 1995, Ludden reported in Canada, and at public radio stations in Boston and Maine.

Ludden graduated from Syracuse University in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in English and Television, Radio and Film Production.

U.S.
12:31 pm
Thu December 27, 2012

An Abundance Of Extreme Weather Has Many On Edge

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Credit Charles Sykes / AP
A parking lot full of yellow taxis is flooded as a result of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 30 in Hoboken, N.J.
Credit John Moore / Getty Images
Rain clouds move over the remnants of parched cornstalks on Aug. 22 near Wiley, Colo. A summer storm came too late to help farmers whose crops were decimated in the wide zone of exceptional drought in Colorado's eastern plains.
Credit Darren McCollester / Getty Images
Waves crash over Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop as Hurricane Sandy comes up the Massachusetts coast on Oct. 29.
Credit Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
Rob Kohler, an electrical-line worker, clears snow-laden power lines on Oct. 31 in Terra Alta, W.Va. Hurricane Sandy mixed with colder temperatures in higher elevations and dumped as much as 3 feet of snow in some places.
Credit Kevin Dietsch / UPI/Landov
People in Takoma Park, Md., walk toward a fallen telephone pole on June 30 after heavy overnight thunderstorms devastated the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The line of storms known as a derecho left over 1 million people without power.
Credit Kevin Dietsch / UPI/Landov
People in Takoma Park, Md., walk toward a fallen telephone pole on June 30 after heavy overnight thunderstorms devastated the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The line of storms known as a derecho left over 1 million people without power.
Credit Paul Sancya / AP
Swimmers try to keep cool in near-100-degree temperatures at Red Oaks Waterpark in Madison Heights, Mich., June 28.
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Originally published on Thu December 27, 2012 6:40 pm

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. "I sat there on the couch thinking, 'Oh my God, we're all gonna die!' "

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U.S.
1:34 pm
Wed December 26, 2012

Debating The Impact Of An Immigration Crackdown

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Credit Lauren Rock / NPR
John Steinbach shows a day laborer in the parking lot of Ricos Tacos Moya a photo he took of him for an ID.
Credit Lauren Rock / NPR
Stacey Moya has worked at her family's restaurant Ricos Tacos Moya for several years. She says new immigration laws scared away customers.
Credit Lauren Rock / NPR
Carlos Castro, owner of Todos Supermarket in Prince William County, chats with a customer at checkout.
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Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 4:24 pm

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."

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U.S.
12:20 am
Thu December 13, 2012

Finding A Child Online: How The Web Is Transforming Adoption

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Credit Courtesy of Eric James
Eric James and his partner, Zerxes Spencer, have spent the past year looking to adopt. To speed up the arduous process, the couple built a website about their lives to draw in interested birth mothers.
Credit Courtesy of Eric James
Eric James and his partner, Zerxes Spencer, have spent the past year looking to adopt. To speed up the arduous process, the couple created a website about their lives to draw in potential birth mothers.
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Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 6:03 am

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.

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Around the Nation
2:43 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

In Wake Of Recession, Immigrant Births Plunge

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A new report finds the U.S. birth rate has dropped to its lowest level on record. It's fallen twice as much among the foreign-born.
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Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 3:45 pm

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.

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All Tech Considered
12:57 pm
Wed November 21, 2012

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

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As more teens get mobile devices, parents are using apps to track their every tweet and post.
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Originally published on Wed November 21, 2012 2:57 pm

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.

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Election 2012
3:03 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Obama, Romney Campaigns Craft Ads For Female Voters

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Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Women are certainly front and center in the presidential campaign. Over the past few days, both Mitt Romney and President Obama have released new ads in an effort to court women. This follows the latest presidential debate where work and family issues created some heated discussions onstage and then among voters. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: The ad wars are becoming as tit-for-tat as this week's debate. Right off the bat was this from the Romney camp, featuring a former Obama voter.

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Health Care
12:47 am
Wed October 17, 2012

Home Health Aides Often As Old As Their Clients

Credit Jennifer Ludden / NPR
Onether Lowery, 80, (standing) is a home health aide for Rosalie Lewis, 86. As a whole, the aides are largely female and far older than women in the general workforce.
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Originally published on Wed October 17, 2012 9:03 am

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."

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Economy
1:37 pm
Tue October 16, 2012

Home Health Aides: In Demand, Yet Paid Little

Credit Jennifer Ludden / NPR
Home health aide trainees Marisol Maldonaldo (center) and Nancy Brown (right), shown here with assistant instructor Miguelina Sosa, are studying to join one of the nation's fastest growing yet also worst paid sectors of the workforce.
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Originally published on Wed October 17, 2012 12:29 pm

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.

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It's All Politics
1:45 pm
Wed September 26, 2012

New Groups Make A Conservative Argument On Climate Change

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Former South Carolina Republican Rep. Bob Inglis now runs the Energy and Enterprise Initiative.
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Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 7:22 am

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.

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Around the Nation
12:35 am
Thu September 13, 2012

Can Marriage Save Single Mothers From Poverty?

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New census figures showing a link between single motherhood and poverty have some analysts touting marriage as a means to curb poverty. But others say it's not so simple.
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Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 11:05 am

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.

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