Introducing “The Family Frontier”
“Political and social planning in a wise social order ought to begin with the axiom What strengthens the family strengthens society.”-Michael Novak
“If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.” -Pearl S. Buck
Are you concerned about the future of families? Do you wonder how we move from our current wasteland of child care options to a system of abundance, and how the U.S. can stop being one of two countries in the world(!) lacking a national paid family leave law? Is the alphabet soup of family policies (CCDBG, CDCTC, CCDF, CTC, oh my) making your head hurt? Most of all, do you want to see America become a nation where all families and children can flourish and have the opportunity to live meaning-filled lives?
Then come on in.
The Family Frontier is intended to be more than a newsletter, but rather a journey of seeking shared understanding. I will be unpacking current events (let’s do some scenario planning on prospects for family policy under the upcoming reconciliation package!), offering explainers (what are the real differences between the half-dozen different child care bills that have been filed in Congress recently?), exploring futurist ideas (how should we think about the knock-on effects to family policy of a rapidly aging and long-lived population?), and bringing you some more philosophical and cultural musings (what does it imply about the human condition when we lean so heavily on economic arguments for child care?).
I’m also excited to use this space to share with you more about my upcoming book. Raising a Nation: 10 Reasons Every American Has a Stake in Child Care For All will be published by Oxford University Press later in 2025, and I want your reactions to the different cases I am asserting. That said, I won’t only be writing about child care. Child care is my area of most concentrated focus, but it is a human activity and policy arena situated in a broader ecosystem of influences on the family (thanks, Urie Bronfenbrenner! You don’t know Urie Bronfenbrenner? Oh you will know Urie Bronfenbrenner.)
Importantly, while this Substack is my personal medium and my personal thoughts, I am putting it forward with support from my colleagues at the think tank Capita, so I will also be offering content from other Capita fellows. Speaking of, if you haven’t yet checked out the new report I co-authored with my colleague Ivana Greco, Invisible Labor, Visible Needs: How Family Policy Can Support Stay-at-Home Parents (And Help All Parents Along the Way), I hope you will!
If you become a subscriber, here’s what you can expect:
Weekly posts (and more frequently as current events may call for)
A monthly list of curated links for your reading, listening, and/or viewing pleasure
Quarterly subscriber-only chats or Zoom Q&As
Guest posts from other great thinkers in the family policy space
An exclusive sneak-peek of Raising a Nation prior to its publication
Most posts will be for paid subscribers, but my Early Learning Nation column and all Capita publications will always remain free. We also have a neat offer for any company that wants to purchase 5 or more subscriptions: a 15% discount on becoming Capita Forward members, a membership with its own suite of benefits, and specialized learning opportunities. (Just email me at elliot@capita.org with your receipt.)
I hope you’ll join me on this journey! As Peter Pan–or, more importantly, Captain Kirk–once said, “second star to the right, and straight on ‘til morning.”
Next on “The Family Frontier”: Whyfor Family Policy