Current Child and Family Policy in the United States: More Than Kissing Babies? and The Welfare of Children

Social Work ◽  
1996 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child And Family Policy

Current Child and Family Policy in the United States

1996 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Pamela A. Monroe ◽  
Francine H. Jacobs ◽  
Margery W. Davies
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child And Family Policy

How We Fail Our Children Part I—The Caretaking Young Children Need

2020 ◽  
pp. 92-118
Author(s):  
Maxine Eichner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
High Quality

A question for any thriving society is how to ensure that children have the things they need to do their best. Two different approaches, pro-family policy and free-market family policy, claim to satisfy children’s needs well. Countries with pro-family policy go out of their way to make it easy for parents to spend time with their children when kids most need it, as well as to provide them high-quality caretaking while parents work, and generous material support. In contrast, under free-market family policy, the United States expects parents to negotiate these conditions on their own, privately arranging for time off from work, reasonable work hours, caregiving while they work, and enough cash to support their kids. This chapter uses recent research on early childhood development to construct a list of the caretaking conditions that help young children thrive. It then considers the extent to which children receive these conditions under free-market family policy versus pro-family policy. Ultimately, it turns out that by far the biggest casualties of free-market family policy are our children.

Impact of Policy on the Family: Can the Family Be Strengthened by Legislation?

1981 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella R. Quah
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Family

AbstractThe present interest on the family in Singapore is shared by other countries. There is continuous discussion on the effects of legislation on the family both in Europe and in the United States. The concern is primarily with family well-being and with the search for effective strategies to attain it. This search leads to the question: can the family be strengthened by legislation? The aim of this paper is to suggest a qualified answer to this question based on our own and other nations' experiences. The discussion will be divided into three parts. The first part is a brief review of what is meant by family and family policy. The second part deals with the situation of family and policy in Singapore and discusses some direct and indirect policies affecting the family. The third and final part draws some lessons for the 1980s.

scholarly journals Breaking the Liberal-Market Mold? Family Policy Variation Across U.S. States and Why It Matters

2020 ◽  
pp. 431-458
Author(s):  
Cassandra Engeman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Models ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Policy Variation ◽  
State Legislative ◽  
Over Time

AbstractDrawing from U.S. state legislative documents, this chapter examines the development of subnational leave policies across states and over time. The research identifies 72 leave laws adopted by states between 1942 and 2017 and shows how some states are more active than others. In comparison to other countries, states quickly abandoned female-targeted policies in favor of gender-neutral, individual entitlements, and leave rights in the United States can be uniquely distinguished by whether they provide time-off to address medical or caregiving needs. I argue that American lawmakers have an opportunity to layer wage-replacement benefits on top of preexisting, gender-neutral and individual entitlements to job-protected leave in a step toward gender-egalitarian family policy models found in other countries.

America’s Free-Market Family Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-42
Author(s):  
Maxine Eichner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Leave ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Market Policy ◽  
Child Benefits ◽  
The Government

This chapter contrasts two models of the role that government can play with respect to families. Free-market family policy, which the United States has adopted, is premised on the view that all government needs to do to support sound families is to support strong markets, which will in turn benefit families. In contrast, pro-family policy, which other countries have adopted, is based on the idea that families do better when the government actively supports them. Pro-family policy considers markets an important tool for distributing the resources that families need, but it regulates them to reduce economic inequality and insecurity and institutes programs like paid family leave, paid vacation, universal childcare, and child benefits. Of the two types of policies, free-market policy leaves families more vulnerable to market forces. That creates devastating problems for families when economic inequality and insecurity increase, as they have in the United States.

Collective bargaining and public policy: Pathways to work-family policy adoption in Australia and the United States

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 495-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Berg ◽  
Ellen Ernst Kossek ◽  
Marian Baird ◽  
Richard N. Block
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Adoption ◽  
Work Family

scholarly journals Family Policy in the United States: State-Level Variation in Policy and Poverty Outcomes from 1980 to 2015

2020 ◽  
pp. 459-483
Author(s):  
Zachary Parolin ◽  
Rosa Daiger von Gleichen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Level Variation ◽  
Transfer Programs ◽  
Medical Spending ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis chapter investigates the diversity and divergence of three sets of family policy indicators across the 50 United States: money, services, and time. Our findings show that the 50 United States vary considerably in their family policy packages. States have become more dissimilar over time with respect to social assistance transfers and statutory minimum wages, but have become more similar in their subsidization of low-pay employment. Moreover, states vary greatly in their levels of support for early childhood education and healthcare. State-level variation in out-of-pocket medical spending has more than doubled from 1980 to 2015, in large part due to some states deciding to expand Medicaid access from 2009 onward. Despite large diversity and some divergence in states’ family policy packages, post-tax/transfer poverty rates have remained relatively stable over time. This is partially due to an increase in federally funded transfer programs mitigating the social consequences of state-level diversity.

U.S. Family Policy in Search of Values, 1965-1995

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
David Fillingim ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
National Family ◽  
American Families

Since 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan has advocated a comprehensive national family policy for the United States. The ups and downs of efforts to advocate family policy initiatives over the last thirty years reveal an increasing polarization over family-related issues. Since public policy affects families, family policy is inevitable, whether purposeful or not. But the lack of public consensus over what values should guide family policy is a serious obstacle to meaningful efforts at improving conditions for American families. This essay proposes an approach to family policy drawing on the best insists of conservative and liberal advocates, based on the values of compassion and personal responsibility.

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