Pro-Family Policy Priorities for Sun Belt States

(Charlottesville, VA.)—For Immediate Release

Contact: Chris Bullivant 

A new report from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), published jointly with the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), presents new polling taken in five Sun Belt states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The results show that parents across these states – which tend to feature growing populations and a conservative governing majority – are looking for proactive family policy to make it easier to raise children. 

The report suggests three main findings to inform state lawmakers’ discussions around building out a pro-family agenda:

• Parents are not simply looking for government to get out of the way; they support proactive steps to make it easier to raise a family
• Republican, Democrat, and independent voters are all supportive of pro-family policies, even those requiring some additional state spending
• Parents, particularly Republican ones, are concerned not just about the economic stresses on families, but the cultural challenges they must navigate.

In short, the report suggests a slate of family-friendly policies that have wide popular support and would make parents’ lives easier without radically burdening the state’s fiscal capacities.

The YouGov poll of voters in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas shows strong levels of support from parents and non-parents across the political spectrum. Some of the results that appealed to voters in these Sun Belt states include:  

• Mandatory age verification to view pornography online
• State-funded paid parental leave
• $5,000 education savings accounts
• State child tax credits
• Additional support for low-income new mothers and their families 

Democrats are more likely to support universal school lunches, state funded paid leave programs, and expanding safety net benefits for low-income mothers. Republicans are more likely to support bold action on cultural challenges, like a state commission on the well-being of men and boys, age verification for pornography online, and teaching the “success sequence” at school. 

But majorities of parents somewhat or strongly supported the proposals on offer, even those that would require some state investment, suggesting that families are looking for action from their state governments to make it easier to raise children. 

“Policymakers at the state level should take the goal of being the ‘best state in which to raise a family’ seriously,” said report co-author and EPPC fellow Patrick T. Brown. “Doing so means listening to parents and finding policy solutions to address the challenges of raising a family, both in affording the cost of living and in raising children in the manner parents deem best.”

READ:

Patrick T. Brown, Brad Wilcox, "Pro-Family Policy Priorities for States. Polling and Perspectives from the Sun Belt," The Institute for Family Studies/Ethics and Public Policy Center, December 2023
https://ifstudies.org/ifs-admin/resources/reports/ifs-eppc-sunbeltfamilypolicypriorities-final.pdf

ENDS.

Notes:

1. Report authors:
   Patrick T. Brown, Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
   Brad Wilcox, Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies in Charlottesville, VA.