Can Democrats and Republicans Overcome Partisanship to Tackle Poverty?

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has issued a new report on how poverty has changed since the recession and how the country’s response must change.

“One ray of hope is that Republicans and Democrats are increasingly talking about the intertwined problems of poverty and opportunity,” the authors wrote. “But even if all agree that America must act, our growing political polarization and legislative gridlock make action seem ever less likely with each passing year.”

In the spirit of bipartisanism, the report is authored by experts from both sides of the aisle. While putting together the report, they agreed on the need for opportunity, responsibility, and security and identified three areas to improve. 

Stable families are the foundation of a strong society, and any effort to reduce poverty must take family formation into account. From AEI:

To strengthen families in ways that will prepare children for success in education and work:

1. Promote a new cultural norm surrounding parenthood and marriage.
2. Promote delayed, responsible childbearing.
3. Increase access to effective parenting education.
4. Help young, less-educated men and women prosper in work and family.

The authors noted that family, work, and education are interlocked. Strong families, along with more opportunities to work and better education are three components to reducing poverty. These involve improving skills, raising work levels, promoting character development in schools, reducing gaps, and other factors.

Go to AEI to download the full report in PDF, Kindle, or iBooks format.