As anyone who has followed the presidential campaign will attest, this is a depressing moment in American politics. Despite a host of serious challenges facing the country – including too many struggling workers who need help developing needed skills – a revival of bipartisan statesmanship seems unlikely. Political rhetoric has turned nasty and mean, and both parties are nominating candidates with low favorable ratings with the general public. This is not an environment in which solutions are likely to break through partisan gridlock.
But the groundwork has been laid for a more productive policy environment. Last year, I was part of a group that offered a package of policy ideas that could bring people together. The center-right American Enterprise Institute (where I work) and the center-left Brookings Institution organized 15 experts representing a wide range of academic disciplines (economics, sociology, political science, and psychology) and experiences in government to find a new approach for helping low-income Americans move up. After a year of debate and discussion, our group reached agreement and published our report, “Opportunity, Responsibility, and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream.”
Credit: Twenty20
How was our group of conservatives, liberals, and centrists able to find common ground on such contentious questions? First, the report was built on a set of shared values that showed we had more values in common than we first thought. As the title alludes to, the group unanimously agreed that all Americans should have the opportunity to rise regardless of their economic status at birth; able-bodied adults should undertake the responsibility of providing for themselves and their families; and a strong safety net should exist to ensure security during life’s downturns.
Then, before turning to solutions, we detailed the facts about poverty and upward mobility in America. This helped us find consensus because when we agreed on the facts, many extreme solutions were taken off the table. And finally, we agreed that progress will only come when we make gains in three areas of life all at once – family, work, and education. Some conservatives may believe that ending single-parenthood alone would solve the challenge of poverty. Some liberals may choose to focus only on raising wages. Others may see education reform as a panacea. The AEI-Brookings Working Group dismissed those perspectives – improvements in all three domains are necessary.
This consensus around the importance of all three spheres rang especially true for me as someone who spent 19 years working in and with work force programs. When we succeeded in helping individuals gain employment and increase their earnings, they were more likely to be successful in maintaining a stable family and helping their children receive a good education. But also, someone who had quality schooling and was raised by two parents is better equipped to succeed in the work place than individuals without those advantages. Anyone who works in social services knows these domains interlock tightly, and the AEI-Brookings Working Group designed policy proposals that reflected that reality.
Chapter 4 of our report includes our analysis of the domain you touch most closely: the labor market. Because upgrading skills is essential, we argue community colleges must be pushed harder to improve their offerings in high-demand fields. States or the federal government should subsidize apprenticeships and expand workbased learning in high schools to prepare young people for the jobs available in their area.
To make sure work pays, we endorsed an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers, as well as an increase in the minimum wage. We also determined that when the economy is in a downturn, the government should step in to create public service employment opportunities to ensure work is available.
Increasing opportunity through skill development and enhancing security by supplementing wages are important. But it is also imperative that low-income Americans are asked to take more personal responsibility. To this end, we expressed support for the work-based safety net created by welfare reform and recommended more work-focused reforms throughout the safety net.
The current state of American politics is discouraging. However, we’re confident this climate of division will eventually subside, and our leaders will return to important problems needing bipartisan solutions. When they do, our report, and its emphasis on following the facts and adhering to our shared values, will be ready to show a way forward.
