Progressives are attempting to bolster their pro-family rhetoric, a domain typically dominated by conservatives. The Center for American Progress released a new report Monday, called “Valuing All Our Families,” detailing the progressive pro-family agenda.
The structure of the American family has changed substantially over the past 50 years. Only one in four children live in traditional families today, compared to two-thirds in 1960, according to Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress. A “traditional family” has two married parents and a male breadwinner. “What’s really energizing our work in this space is also the recognition that children who have two loving parents, married or not … engaged in their lives provides more resources, more support,” Tanden said at a release event Monday.
Conservatives should welcome progressives’ recognition that two-parent households provide more support for children. A household with two parents can be especially helpful for families looking to rise out of poverty. While the Center for American Progress report had many features, it also had many flaws. Here are some details on both:
Features
Much of the report focused on helping families in poverty. “Disadvantaged couples become single parents,” said Melissa Boteach, one of the report’s coauthors. The policy prescriptions included were aimed at increasing employment and wage growth.
The report acknowledged that family and friends are important factors in helping families economically and emotionally. “The degree to which a family has access to social networks that are helpful in raising children or providing social support is an important factor, underscoring the role that extended families … and vibrant communities can play in children’s development,” the report said.
One specific economic policy priority was the reduction of marriage penalties in Supplemental Security Income. When a disabled worker marries, their spouse’s income typically makes them ineligible for SSI payments. This discourages marriage by putting some newlyweds in the difficult position of having to suddenly support two people, one with a disability, on one income. The report advocates for letting benefits continue, at least until families in this situation are making twice the poverty level.
The report advocates for an expansion in the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has been more successful at alleviating poverty than the minimum wage. More people take advantage of the EITC than earn the minimum wage. “Bolstering the rewards of work for young people who do not yet have children could help these workers find stronger financial footing before they become parents,” the report says. Young workers usually earn low salaries before climbing up the career, and income, ladder.
Flaws
The report advocates for increasing overall employment by “[i]ncreasing investments in our public infrastructure, enacting fiscal stimulus packages, reducing the trade deficit, and providing publicly subsidized jobs for people with barriers to stable employment.” The problem here, as with similar stimulus projects, is that the jobs it creates are often not economically sustainable in the long run, and so temporary jobs come at the expense of a long-term debt burden. The report separately advocates for a minimum wage increase, which would hurt employment prospects for young and low-skilled workers more than any other group.
In order to reduce unplanned pregnancies, the report calls for increased access to birth control. The best way to do this would be to make it available over the counter, but the report instead advocates doing this by expanding Medicaid yet again. Medicaid has already quadrupled in size as a portion of the economy since it was first implemented in 1974.
The report is not content with increasing the number of Medicaid recipients — it also wants to expand the types of services available to include couples counseling. This takes the program far afield from its original purpose of helping the poorest Americans receive essential medical treatment.
This is not an all-inclusive list of the report’s flaws and features. Overall, the report shows progressive recognition that families are an important mechanism for fighting poverty, and conservatives should welcome this, even if they can’t agree with many of the recommendations for the same old progressive policy prescriptions that increase dependence on government.
