Promoting the Role of Government in Child Well-Being

April 2015

Public Works is dedicated to building public will for the

common good. We equip community leaders, advocates

and public servants with the skills and knowledge they

need to be articulate and vigorous supporters of the role

of government in a functioning society.

In this presentation, we will share with you the lessons

we have learned about how to communicate about child

well-being after a decade of research and fieldwork.

As Americans, we eagerly support and cherish

our own children. However, progress on

improving conditions for our nation’s children

has stalled in many arenas.

Child policy advocates know what needs to be

done. The science and the policy knowledge

have advanced.

But, public will and action lag behind.

A quick review of the ways we have

historically viewed childhood offers clues

about the cultural reasons why our progress

has been limited.

In the Middle Ages, the concept of childhood

as a separate stage of life did not exist. In the

16th century’s Age of Innocence, children

were valued as a source of amusement for

adults, and in the Moralistic Period from the

16th – 18th centuries, it was believed that

children should be trained and disciplined.

During the Industrial Age we time we began

to see a concern about the exploitation of

children and “the imperiled child” -- a frame

still dominant in our culture today.

In the early 1900s, leaders like Jane Addams and Mary Harris “Mother” Jones began

advocating against child labor and exploitation. The National Child Labor

Committee was created. It worked to end child labor and provide free, compulsory

education for all children, culminating in the passage of the Fair Labor Standards

Act in 1938 – which was among the first federal standards for child labor.

Image available in public domain: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Midnight_at_the_glassworks2b.jpg

While these child labor protections were put in place, a whole new concept of

what children were being prepared for was solidifying. We were raising future

workers for the Industrial Age. Gone was Rouseau’s idea of the natural

development of the child, free from the strictures of society’s institutions. We

needed to “manufacture” the human cogs of the economic machine.

20th Century: The Century of the Child

In the 20th century, enormous advances were made in our understanding of child

development, new concerns emerged about the living and learning conditions for

children and there was a steady stream of new child-centered policies and

institutions.

Child Advocacy 18,00,000 Google Hits

Today, child advocacy is a vibrant, diverse field. People advocate for child welfare; equitable education; nutritious and safe food for children; affordable health care for children and families; an appropriately-focused juvenile justice system; and more.

Along with Somalia, the

United States is one of

only two countries in the

world which have not

ratified the Convention on

the Rights of the Child.

Yet, by most international standards of child well-being, the United States’ comparative rankings are low.

UNICEF ranks the U.S.

26th out of 29

developed nations based

on the overall well-being

of our children.

The U.S.’s child poverty

rates ranks 34th of 35

countries surveyed,

above only Romania and

below virtually all of

Europe.

Perhaps, this is because we get what we (don’t) pay for. As this graph shows, the United States places relatively low priority on ensuring a basic level of fiscal stability for families with children.

Source: http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/PF1_1_Public_spending_on_family_benefits_Oct2013.pdf

“Kids are a priority in almost every

family's budget. From the

moment we hold our newborns in

our arms, feeding, clothing,

housing and educating them

trumps everything else. But in the

federal budget, the reverse is true:

only a modest fraction of federal

spending is aimed at kids. And

that fraction is scheduled to

decline because neither political

party is willing to fix what it knows

is plaguing our spending and tax

systems . . .”

C. Eugene SteuerleCrumbs for Children?

The Government We Deserve, No. 1April 4, 2007

http://www.urban.org/research/publication/crumbs-children

Source:

The U.S.’s low rankings when

compared to other nations are not

because “we can’t afford it.” We

are the richest country in the

world.

Why does this disconnect between our concern for children and

the low priority we place upon them in our governmental policies

persist?

At Public Works, we believe a

core element of the challenge

we face in advocating for

children is the tension

between the “private child”

and the “public child .”

Progress on children’s policy

will continue to be difficult

unless we deal with this false

choice and help Americans

truly see all children as “our”

children.

“The laissez-faire, private property model

survives in national family policy . . . in the

chasm that divides "our children" from "other

people's children”. While lavishing material

goods on the private child, we neglect the

public child. “

Source:: http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1902&context=wmlr

This concept of the difference between the “public child” and the “private child” plays out

in debates about policy. It fuels a deep American suspicion of an overbearing and

intrusive “nanny state” and the parallel notion of children being the sole purview of

parents in “the Family Bubble.”

The Family Bubble

Instead of a truly inclusive concern about all children, the current political and fiscal

debate seems overemphasize debt as the legacy we might leave our children and

grandchildren.

“We cannot saddle our children and grandchildren with an unsustainable debt. And we will keep working to restore discipline and balance to our country’s budget.”

(former) Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy PelosiJuly 2010

“We must lead together as a nation to prevent saddling our children and grandchildren with a future dimmed by debt, doubt, and despair. Government should operate just like your family: If we don’t have it, we can’t spend it. Our fiscal security is our national security.”

Congressman Tom ReedJanuary 2012

Both political parties have adopted the “saddling our children with debt” storyline.

Culture Change

Backwards

More of the Same

We need to recognize that these are deep-seated cultural hurdles. More and better

data and policy are not going to be enough to push past them. We have to help

people move beyond these cultural hurdles for what they are to foster enduring

cultural change.

We must move past these cultural hurdles.

These hurdles – both visible and invisible – are part of virtually every policy and fiscal debate about child well-being.

The “Other Child” – exacerbated by a legacy of race and class exclusion

Personal Responsibility, the Family Bubble and the Nanny State

We’re Broke, We Can’t Saddle our Children and Grandchildren with Debt

Recommendations for

Moving Past

Cultural Hurdles

Focus on Interdependence

• Self-determination/Self-discipline• Rugged individualism• Benefits based solely on effort• Limited obligation to collective

good• Neutrality of major social

institutions• Moral nature of behavior• Limited government intervention

• Shared responsibility• Obligation to collective good• Unequal starting requires

remedy• Focus on social conditions• Basic benefits should be assured• Community well-being• Government involvement a

must

Source: Rockridge Institute http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/

We need to assess whether we are activating frames that cue up

Independence ....

….and shift to frames the cue up Interdependence.

Focus on Interdependence

One way to shift to interdependence is to talk about the simple truth that the

foundation of our shared prosperity rests on how we treat and support every child .

“If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees.

If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”

- Chinese Proverb

“The central challenge for modern, diversifying societies is to create a new broader sense of “we.”

Robert PutnamE Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the 21st Century2007

Create a Sense of “We”

Avoid “Otherizing”

24

There are simple things we can be careful of in

our work to make sure we are always reinforcing

“we.” One of these is to avoid “otherizing”

language. Avoid terms that reinforce a sense

that “those children” are not like mine, they are

not “our children.” For example:

• The vulnerable

• At-risk youth

• Urban youth

• The “poor”

The Circle of

Concern

Another way of moving debates from the “private” to “public child” is to emphasize that we

must place all children in our circle of concern. In Poverty and Race through a

Belongingness Lens, john powell talks about the need to create an ever widening circle of

concern, that much of our “stuck-ness” in addressing poverty and other issues of justice

rests with the fact that too many of our fellow humans are outside the circle of concern . . .Source: http://www.nwaf.org/FileCabinet/DocumentCatalogFiles/Other/PMpowell.pdf

To overcome the limitations of “the Family Bubble,” we need to give examples of

how the lives of children are improved and supported by the broader community

and how public programs and systems actually work with parents and caregivers and

other agencies and institutions to help make healthy families and children possible.

Assert Government’s Role

We also need to help our audiences understand government is our tool for supporting

families and providing opportunities for all of our children. We can do this by telling a

story of government that leads with the mission and purpose of government, describing

it as the systems we have created together to address our nation’s problems, and

elevating civic-thinking. (For a fuller explanation: http://www.publicworks.org/issues/government/).

Assert Government’s Role

Mission & Purpose Systems & Structures Civic-Thinking

Providing funding for children’s programs is an essential part of the discussion about

children’s well-being. We need to be prepared to pivot away from the notion that we

are “saddling our children with debt” and instead focus on how improving the lives

of children is key to our shared future and how public investments and public

structures form an essential foundation underneath family and community stability

and success.

Focus Budget Debates on the Future

An ExamplePromoting the Role of Government in Immunizations

The health of the whole community

is protected when we ensure that

our children are immunized. One of

the ways we do this is through our

public health agencies that provide

free and low cost immunizations for

all children. We need extended clinic

hours to keep up with growing

demands.

Asserts the role of government by leading with values.

Asserts the role of government, referring to our public health system as “ours.”

Focuses on the future.

Widens the circle of concern to include all children.

An ExamplePromoting the Role of Government in Pre-K

Pre-K is more than child care. It’s prevention. It’s getting ahead of our problems.

Children who attend high quality pre-K enter school ready to learn, are more likely

to read at grade level, to graduate on time, and to have fewer health problems.

With trained teachers, low student-to-teacher ratios, and full day instruction, pre–K

offers high quality early education to our community’s four–year olds.

It’s good for the whole community. Students – beyond those in Pre–K - reap the

benefits of being in classes with children who are all progressing together.

We all benefit when students succeed and are able to contribute to our community.

And, we should all support efforts to expand Pre-K services.

Pre-K is more than child care. It’s prevention. It’s getting ahead of our problems.

Children who attend high quality pre-K enter school ready to learn, are more likely

to read at grade level, to graduate on time, and to have fewer health problems.

With trained teachers, low student-to-teacher ratios, and full day instruction, pre–

K offers high quality early education to our community’s four–year olds.

It’s good for the whole community. Students – beyond those in Pre–K - reap the

benefits of being in classes with children who are all progressing together.

We all benefit when students succeed and are able to contribute to our

community. And, we should all support efforts to expand Pre-K services.

An ExamplePromoting the Role of Government in Pre-K

Asserts the role of government by leading with values – namely, prevention.

Continues with values – healthy kids, ready to learn, etc.

Helps tell that system story by explaining how Pre-K works.

Widens the circle of concern – includes students in Pre-K and all of our students..

Elevates civic-thinking. Gives everyone a role in the solution.

Recommendations for Changing the Culture

Focus on Interdependence

Create a sense of “We”

• Avoid Otherizing

• Broaden the “Circle of Concern”

Assert the role of public systems as the tools of shared responsibility

• Highlight how public programs work “with” parents

Make budget debates about the future

• Pivot away from the notion of saddling our grandchildren with debt to the idea of building a bright future.