President Biden is unveiling his American Families Plan this week. It aims to support families with the cost of childcare, expanding child tax credits, providing paid family leave, among other things. But is this enough to meaningfully reduce U.S. inequality (the highest in the developed world) and set up the next generation for a healthy, equitable and sustainable future?
Leaders on both sides of the aisle already agree that early childhood is critical in positioning kids for success throughout life. Just look at programs like Head Start, SNAP, Medicaid, etc.) The American Families Plan even includes spending for pre-k education.
But we need to invest in kids even earlier. We really should be starting from conditions at birth. That is how to truly give kids a fair start in life.
Given that, shouldn’t we also pursue family planning investments that have more than 50 years of proven results in reducing poverty and improving lives? These are efforts like encouraging delayed parenthood, birth spacing and investing more in each child.
Yes, family planning decisions are ultimately between parents. But our policies have significant implications for the conditions in which children are born.
Therefore, lawmakers must ask key questions as they devise policies if they really want to give kids a fair start in life:
- How can we help parents be financially ready?
- How can we help parents provide stable and healthy home environments?
- How can we act to reduce inequities and the climate crisis, rather than exacerbate these harms?
Here are a few ways the Biden administration could advance parental readiness and improve equity to give all kids a fair start:
- Encourage delayed parenthood by releasing funds being held up in the development of the male pill.
- Making higher education more accessible, allowing parents to better provide for their families throughout their lifetimes. The good news? Tuition-free community college is already included in the American Families Plan!
- Improve family planning education to arm young people with information about the benefits of delayed parenthood, birth spacing, and focusing resources on kids. Future parents can set themselves up for greater lifetime success and give their future kids a fair start. Why aren’t we giving them this information?
- Cut all benefits to wealthy families who don’t need the funding.
- Use those savings as cash incentives to power up family planning and early childhood investment systems in the United States to
- Target child abuse by amending the federal child abuse law
- Incentivize delaying having kids until parents are really ready
- Promote more sustainable families for all regardless of income, as well as fostering and adoption – changes that have twenty times the impact on climate emissions, relative to short term fixes.
- Target child abuse by amending the federal child abuse law
TAKE ACTION: Add your name to urge President Biden to improve his American Families plan.