Read on Twitter
which do you think would have the biggest positive impact on US society?
Follow-up q:
To what degree do you think the existence of universal child care would prevent /address issues that lead to involvement with foster care.
To what degree do you think the existence of universal child care would prevent /address issues that lead to involvement with foster care.
I'm going to do a quick thread for anyone interested on what policy and research (such that I can find it quickly) says about this.
tomorrow!
I was listening to the podcast "You're Wrong About" and wondering about the foster care system. This is why I posted this poll. Let me break down a bit about foster care in the country and universal child care. UCC first.
In the US as of 2017, there were about 443K kids in foster care. A third are in relatives' homes, 45% in nonrelative homes. Half of the kids who left FC were reunited with parents/primary caregivers. 43% who left FC were in FC for less than 1 year. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/foster.pdf
A big concern with respect to FC are institutional or group home placements. These are ~13% of the total placements and most child advocacy groups recommend this % decrease significantly. Another big concern is that Black/AA & Latinx kids tend to be in FC disproportionately.
Not surprisingly (at least to me), Julian Castro had a really good plan to address FC. His plan is worth reading IMO: https://issues.juliancastro.com/children-first/ . Recent articles that predict the numbers of kids entering FC will increase given the economic recession and COVID-19.
Formally, kids enter foster care because of "neglect", "truancy", death of caregivers and abuse. Often judges make this determination. See this article about a Black woman judge in NO re: how she dramatically decreased the number of FC placements. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/one-judges-tough-approach-to-foster-care-its-only-for-the-really-extreme-cases/2019/11/24/bd2dd322-0a4c-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html
In short, financial precarity and substance abuse seem to be some drivers of why many kids enter FC. Good judges/decision-makers seem to make the difference in terms how kids are placed and for how long. Read Castro's position paper. But what about universal child care?
UCC can help with the foster care problem, but probably not as much as paying people liveable wages, housing policies and good comprehensive healthcare. Norway had a good study about this.
They found that co-habiting/married mothers tended to benefit more from these policies than single mothers. But regardless women tended to earn higher salaries which translated into more taxes received by the government which paid for the UCC program. https://equitablegrowth.org/universal-childcares-benefits-might-cover-much-of-its-costs/
More about US Context:
1. Childcare access and women's labor force participation is much lower than Norway.
2. Lack of access to childcare services depresses earnings & labor force participation for parents and leads to lower social and economic outcomes for children.
1. Childcare access and women's labor force participation is much lower than Norway.
2. Lack of access to childcare services depresses earnings & labor force participation for parents and leads to lower social and economic outcomes for children.
Final point: Most Americans say it is not ideal for both parents to work. This includes 1/3rd of Democrats. https://archive.is/XvmDH .
In reality, 2/3rds of families, both parents work, and in 40%, women are the higher earners.
In reality, 2/3rds of families, both parents work, and in 40%, women are the higher earners.
“In the United States, child care is still at the political level viewed symbolically and not economically"
"in states where child care is more affordable and school days are longer, more mothers work than in states where it’s expensive and school days are short."
"in states where child care is more affordable and school days are longer, more mothers work than in states where it’s expensive and school days are short."
"CA, OR & WA, for instance, have among the lowest shares of women working, and some of the most expensive child care and shortest school days. ND, SD & NE have higher shares of women in the work force, more affordable child care and longer school days. "
tl; dr: UCC may indeed have the greatest impact on society, but our most vulnerable need multiple systems of support in addition.
Let me just add this here about predicted increases in FC system. https://twitter.com/AlecMacGillis/status/1295056026048356352?s=20
Let me just add this here about predicted increases in FC system. https://twitter.com/AlecMacGillis/status/1295056026048356352?s=20
