One Percent For the Kids: New Policies, Brighter Futures for America’s Children

One Percent for the Kids: New Policies, Brighter Futures for America’s Children, a new Brookings volume edited by Isabel V. Sawhill, argues that the life prospects of children at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can be improved substantially—and the growing gap between them and other children reduced—if the nation is willing to allocate an additional one percent of gross domestic product to children.

The Brookings Roundtable on Children, together with the Brookings Welfare Reform & Beyond Initiative, sponsored a public forum to discuss One Percent for the Kids and assess what its recommendations would mean for American social and economic policy. Panelists discussed proposals to improve early childhood education and health care, bolster family income and work, reduce teen pregnancy, encourage and strengthen marriage, and help families move to better neighborhoods.

Panel I: Perspectives from Capitol Hill

Moderator:
E.J. Dionne Jr.,
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution,
Columnist, The Washington Post

Panelists:
Representative Benjamin Cardin
(D-MD)

Representative Nancy L. Johnson
(R-CT)

Panel II: Investing in Children in the United Kingdom

Moderator:
E.J. Dionne Jr.

Panelists:
John Hills
Director, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion
London School of Economics

Michael Wiseman
Professor of Public Policy, Public Administration and Economics, George Washington University

Panel III: Panel Discussion with Authors of One Percent for the Kids

Moderator:
Isabel V. Sawhill
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
Co-Director, Welfare Reform & Beyond

Panelists:
David Armor
Professor of Public Policy,
George Mason University

Greg J. Duncan
Professor, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Irwin Garfinkel
Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia University

Andrea Kane
Director of Public Policy, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Jens Ludwig
Associate Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Scott Scrivner
Research Associate,
Public Private Ventures

Panel IV: Perspectives from Other Sectors

Moderator:
Ray Suarez,
Senior Correspondent, “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer”

Panelists:
Charles E.M. Kolb
President, Committee for Economic Development

Sanford A. Newman
President, Fight Crime, Invest in Kids

Ruby Takanishi
President, Foundation for Child Development