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Cash or Childcare: What Do American Parents Want?

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm


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Description

Deseret News and the Institute for Family Studies will convene Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) alongside a panel of distinguished scholars and experts to explore how to best strengthen the American family.
The live, online event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26 at 3:30 PM EST (links below).
Brad Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and Deseret News contributor will moderate the conversation. Panelists include:
  • Senator Mitt Romney
  • Jenet Erickson, Deseret News contributing writer and BYU Wheatley Institution Fellow
  • Margarita Mooney Suarez, professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary, Founder & Executive Director of Scala Foundation
The pandemic hit families hard in the United States. Between balancing school closures and lost income, households are still struggling. Some have simply forgone family formation altogether as fertility rates continued their slide to record lows.
Politicians across the partisan spectrum are looking for solutions. In February, Sen. Romney proposed the Family Security Act. The bill would provide direct cash payments of $4,200 per child (five and younger) and $3,000 per child (ages six to 17). President Joe Biden’s own chief of staff, Ron Klain, called Romney’s proposal “an encouraging sign that bipartisan action to reduce child poverty IS possible.” President Biden’s American Families Plan takes a different path, combining a more modest child allowance with a major expansion of federal funding for childcare. Which approach best aligns with the wishes of ordinary American parents?