Highlights
- The majority of parents in a new national poll say it's too easy for kids to find sexually-explicit content online (86%), and that it's too easy to get divorced today (64%), per a new IFS/EPPC report. Post This
- The IFS/EPPC report recommends 5 policy priorities for Congress, including strengthening the CTC, giving parents more tools to protect their kids online, and reducing or eliminating marriage penalties for low-income/working class families. Post This
- “To be politically successful," says Patrick T. Brown, "a pro-family agenda must prioritize parents’ values as well as their pocketbooks.” Post This
The overwhelming majority of parents in a new national poll said the cost of living makes it hard to have kids (84%) and that it is too easy for kids to find sexually-explicit content online (86%), according to a new report released today from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC). Additionally, two-thirds of all parents in the survey disagreed that marriage is an "outdated institution," and 64% said it is too easy to get divorced.
The report, authored by EPPC fellow Patrick T. Brown, uses a YouGov poll of 2,557 U.S. adults, including an oversample of parents, to hear from parents on the challenges they face, and to recommend legislative action by federal lawmakers.
When parents were asked about legislative changes they would support:
- 82% agreed that a family with a worker present should be eligible for the full value of the Child Tax Credit
- 80% supported requiring parental permission before a minor opens a social media account, and 77% supported giving parents administrator-level access to what kids are seeing and doing online
- 71% supported a federal six-week benefit for new moms
- 65% supported teaching the Success Sequence in schools
Based on the polling results, the IFS/EPPC report recommends that Congress take the following actions:
- Strengthen the Child Tax Credit to bolster work and marriage in a fiscally prudent way
- Give parents more tools to protect their kids online
- Create a straightforward paid leave benefit for new parents with broad-based eligibility
- Advance policies that strengthen the fundamental bonds of fathers, mothers, and their children
- Reduce or eliminate marriage penalties facing low-income and working-class families.
“To be politically successful," said report author and EPPC fellow Patrick T. Brown, "a pro-family agenda must prioritize parents’ values as well as their pocketbooks.”
Download the full IFS/EPPC report here.
