Want to know where Bush and Kerry stand on a whole host of family matters?

The University of Maryland department of family studies has put together a non-partisan voters guide to the presidential candidates' records on family-related and other domestic issues.

The guide is available on the University of Maryland's website at:http://www.hhp.umd.edu/FMST/fis/Family_Election_Guide.pdf.

"Who Shares Your Family Priorities?" compares legislation and programs backed by Bush and Kerry in the areas of welfare, child care, family immigration, Head Start, health care, marriage, Medicare, minimum wage, No Child Left Behind, same-sex marriage, Social Security, stem cell research and unemployment.

The guide was researched and compiled by family policy doctoral students in the University of Maryland's department of family studies. "We got the information from the candidates' websites and quoted directly so as not to color our information," said doctoral student Sarah Kaye, one of the project's coordinators. "We used current campaign statements as well as each candidate's information about past stands on family issues."

The idea for the guide grew out of frustration with campaign emphasis on only a few topics. "We were fed up with hearing about the same issues over and over," said Stephanie Grutzmacher, another doctoral student and project co-coordinator. "We felt we weren't getting information we needed to vote on things we care about. No one is pushing candidates about things in our daily lives."

"We're hoping our guide will give voters a clearer picture of where the candidates stand on these family issues," said Kaye.