States with Progressive Policies Have More Family Stability, Says New Center for American Progress Analysis

Boxes containing signatures gathered by the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative group sit on display in Phoenix, Arizona on July 7, 2016.

Boxes containing signatures gathered by the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative group sit on display in Phoenix, Arizona, July 7, 2016. Source: AP/Ross D. Franklin

Washington, D.C. —(ENEWSPF)–October 25, 2016. A new issue brief from the Center for American Progress demonstrates a link between a state’s economic and health policies and the outcomes for families living there. In a national review of where states fall on raising the minimum wage, strengthening collective bargaining, expanding Medicaid, and supporting reproductive rights, CAP’s analysis found that states with more conservative policies typically fare worse on family stability indicators than those that take a more progressive approach. These family stability indicators include divorce rates, infant mortality rates, birth rates for women ages 15 to 19, and the share of children living with neither parent.

“Many conservative policymakers say they want to support families, but they oppose policies that would make a real difference when it comes to the stability and strength of families,” said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Director of Family Policy for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at CAP. “If conservatives want to support strong, stable, and healthy families, they can simply look to policies that are already on the ground and delivering tangible benefits for families.”

According to CAP’s analysis, the divorce rate is, on average, 28 percent higher; the infant mortality rate is 32 percent higher; the birth rate among women ages 15 to 19 is 50 percent higher; and the share of children who live with neither parent is 17 percent higher in states with conservative stances on all four policies, compared with states with progressive stances on all four policies. These indicators are not always associated with negative outcomes, but these situations are often accompanied by emotional and financial challenges that affect family well-being.

Read the report here.