Four Ways We Can Create an Opportunity ‘Bounce’

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the historic welfare reform legislation passed by the Republican Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. We both worked as senior staff throughout the bill’s formation and passage. Welfare reform changed the open-ended cash welfare system to one of time limits and work requirements for able-bodied recipients and moved 2.8 million families out of poverty and into jobs. Building on this success, it appears Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is offering proposals that will resonate with struggling families. By unveiling a set of policy initiatives that help lift families out of government dependency and toward self-sufficiency, the Trump campaign could experience a much needed bounce in the polls.

The number of Americans living below the poverty line was above 14 percent, as reported in 2014 — the same level as in 1966, when many of our federal programs began assisting low-income families. The poverty rate has not been this high since 1991 and 1994. Both major political parties have been negligent in their attention to these socio-economic strata. There is potential here for the Trump campaign to benefit by laying a foundation of opportunities that allow for families reaching for the rungs on the ladder out of poverty to be successful.

Buried deep in the Republican Party platform are a number of planks that should resonate with the disenfranchised who are rejecting both parties. It would be wise for the Trump campaign to embrace and highlight what is there. In addition, there are several other good proposals that have existing right-left support, notably the recent AEI-Brookings report, “Opportunity, Responsibility and Security, A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream.”

Here are a few ideas that stand out:

1. Family stability

Research continues to show that family stability with two committed parents provides the strongest foundation and best possible outcome for a child. As the Republican platform states, “40 percent of children who now are born outside of marriage are five times more likely to live in poverty than youngsters born and raised by a mother and father in the home.” Inherent in every welfare program, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or food stamps, there is a fiscal penalty for those who are married or would like to get married. The income of the spouse is counted toward meeting the income threshold for the program thus putting the potential recipient over the income limit and becoming ineligible. To no one’s surprise, this significantly impacts the decision making for a single mother about whether to marry or not. Putting food on the table and a roof overhead clearly makes more sense than getting married.

Phasing out the marriage penalty in each of the more than 80 federal welfare programs would make strides in helping encourage low-income couples to marry without losing their eligibility for assistance.

2. Reducing costs of raising children

In the same vein, lowering the costs of raising a child by increasing the Child Tax Credit after it has stayed the same for 13 years could relieve economic pressure in struggling households.

Last week, Trump proposed to help families by allowing them to fully deduct all child care costs from their taxes. No doubt, this proposal would help some struggling working families by putting more cash in their bank accounts. Most low-income families, however, would be ineligible for this benefit because they pay no federal income taxes.

Low-income hourly wage-workers do pay a federal tax in the form of the payroll tax. A nice complement to Trump’s deduction would be to include a reform that allows child-care expenses to be excluded from half of the low-wage workers’ payroll taxes. This would serve to increase their take home pay each week.

The campaign has also signaled its support for a tax credit for stay-at-home caregivers. This is important because it gives fiscal parity to those families who choose to have one parent stay home to raise the children versus those with two-incomes who work outside the home.

3. Education 

A good education is necessary to attain a well-paying job and the income gap continues to increase between the well-educated and less-educated. In order to close this gap, parents should have the same educational opportunities and choices for achievement no matter their income bracket. Even President Obama sent his girls to a private school in Washington, D.C., because the District has some of the worst public schools in the country.

We need to even the playing field by allowing families to choose private schools in the lowest-performing school districts. In addition, we need to expand the number of charter schools available to give parents better school options.

4. Expanding work opportunities

The 1996 welfare reform policies that moved 2.8 million families out of poverty and into jobs and self-sufficiency can be and should be replicated in other welfare programs.The 1996 reform only changed one of more than 80 federal welfare programs: the cash welfare program now known as TANF.

Time limits and work requirements for able-bodied recipients should be included in the food stamp program, housing vouchers, child-care vouchers, Medicaid and many others. By doing so, there is real potential to move several million welfare dependent families off of welfare and into the labor workforce and providing for their families.

The good news is that real policy proposals that promote a strong family structure, help close the education gap and provide opportunity for employment and income security would give the needed “bounce” that so many Americans long for to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. They also might give Donald Trump a much-needed bump up on the way to Election Day in November.

Kiki Bradley is a partner with Chartwell Policy Solutions. During President George W. Bush’s administration she ran the TANF program at the Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to that she served eight years as a domestic policy advisor to the Speaker of the House and 12 years total on Capitol Hill.

Mark Rodgers is principal at The Clapham Group and served in senior staff positions on Capitol Hill from 1991-2016, including chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and staff director of the Senate Republican Conference.