Two views on policy for children

Paul Krugman asks: Why Does America Hate Its Children? In typical Krugman fashion, he documents what other countries do for kids and digs into causes of the U.S.-diference. He is not just throwing about invective.

The answer, I’d suggest, goes beyond the fact that children can’t vote, while seniors can and do. There has also been a poisonous interaction between racial antagonism and bad social analysis.

These days, political support for programs that aid children is surely hurt by the fact that less than half the population under 15 is non-Hispanic white. But even before immigration transformed America’s ethnic landscape, there was a widespread perception that programs like Aid to Families With Dependent Children basically helped Those People — you know, the bums on welfare, the welfare queens driving Cadillacs. ...

... What this means is that we’ve established a basically vicious system under which children can’t get the help they need unless their parents find jobs that don’t exist. And a growing body of evidence says that this system is destructive as well as cruel.

The complete column is worth pondering.

Krugman's method is to think down through the data. Some people think up -- through their lives. I was reminded of this video. Here's the story of two dads whose family experiences point where we are going and something we need for a more child-affirming society.