Convergence's Collaborative on Supports for Working Families

Background and Challenge

Despite the overarching consensus that children are our future, the share of federal expenditures on children is projected to decline to 6.2 percent over the next decade. In fact, the share of Americans having children is declining, while people with children are citing higher levels of pessimism about their children’s future. On issues ranging from child tax credits to paid family leave to the division of responsibilities among parents, government, and employers for the provision of childcare, significant advances in federal and state policy have been difficult to achieve. 

Our Approach

CBI facilitated the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution’s Collaborative on Supports for Working Families. Convergence brought together one of the most ideologically diverse cross-sector groups of policy experts and practitioners in child development and family supports ever assembled. The group included experts from liberal, conservative, and libertarian think tanks; organizational leaders and consultants in the fields of childcare, employer, and public benefits programs; and advocates for lower-income children and families. Many members of the collaborative, while working in the same field for years, had never met in person. The group agreed on only one thing to start: there is a real problem—low-to-moderate-income working families with young children face major economic and social challenges that are discouraging family formation and undermining child development. The group decided to focus their discussions on whether and how different government policies, employer practices, and public narratives could help families flourish.

CBI and the Convergence team worked to build mutual understanding and relationships among the participants through a series of facilitated dialogues on four core issues: childcare systems; child tax credits and other cash supports for families; paid leave; and the national narrative about the responsibility of parents, employers, and government for family flourishing. With this foundation established, participants were able to move into facilitated working groups to explore and negotiate options for policy and action. Through productive arguments and creative brainstorming, the participants bridged many of their differences and crafted widely supported proposals.  

Results

The collaborative created a shared framework for what it means for working families to flourish, and it released a blueprint for action that recommends actions for policymakers, employers, communities, and philanthropists. The recommendations fall into four categories: changing the public story and perception of working families; providing more effective and easily accessible cash support to lower-and-moderate income families; ensuring high-quality care options for children; and supporting parents with new children with paid parental leave. The Collaborative’s action plan received national attention, with news platforms such as NPR and The New York Times covering the group’s work. Following the release of its action plan, the Collaborative worked for another year to advocate for its recommendations and develop federal and state-level initiatives. For more information, visit the Collaborative’s site here.