Tag: News & Fair Start Headlines

Imagine a parent torturing their own child. Child Protective Services takes in the child to protect him or her, and begin the long process of trying to find a foster family for the child while courts try to deal with the parent. In the middle of this long, drawn-out process, the parent has another child. Because of the prior abuse, this baby also goes into state custody.

Although there are ranges of outcomes and different stories of children who lived through situations like this, if we look at the statistics, we can safely say that the children going through the state system are not, on average, getting a fair start in life. Recent reports found state systems that are failing children across the board. The community loses out too, because it will pay for the costs of this failing child protective and care system, in the short-term and in the long-term as it absorbs scores of unprepared children reared in public systems.

Would it be possible to design a worse system?

There is a solution. In some egregious cases, judges are ordering abusive parents not to have more children. Many courts have upheld those orders as constitutional, finding that a child’s right to a minimum level of well-being should balance against a parent’s right to have a child.

But the process of using these orders is haphazard and undertheorized.

Having Kids strongly believes a child’s right to a fair start overrides other considerations. We are exploring ways to help standardize this process.

And if you agree that the child’s rights should come first, please click and sign our Fair Start Declaration. Thanks so much!

Having Kids’ Open Letter to Prince William and Kate Middleton has attracted a great deal of attention from around the world, with over 50 media outlets picking it up so far.

Instead of discussing the many pressing topics raised in the letter – including the threat the UK faces from climate change, and how family planning is the single most powerful step we can take to address the climate crisis (more) – former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee took to Facebook to imply that I and Having Kids’ Director of Operations should not have reproduced, thus contending that our child shouldn’t exist.

Mr. Huckabee’s attack on my family is obviously an irrelevant cheap joke to play to his fan base. What is more disturbing, though, is how Mr. Huckabee’s snide attack is symptomatic of the head-in-the-sand attitude that ignores all the challenges humanity faces, now and in the future. These challenges include not only environmental degradation, but also rising inequality.

Our single question to our critics is: Do you think every child born today will have an equal and fair start in life?

Do you think Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s grandchildren have the same opportunities as those born in Muñiz, TX?

My husband and I realize, compared to the majority of other children in the US and around the world, our child was born with many advantages. That is why we are dedicating much of our time and resources to helping others, rather than simply pursuing our personal short-term interests.

Instead of attacking and mocking people dedicated to making the world a better place for all, maybe we should reconsider our tone and tactics. We can each help more children have a Fair Start. We hope Mr. Huckabee agrees. Regardless, we hope you will be a part of this work. Thanks!

–Anne

Granted, our leadership pulled out of the Paris Agreement, but we can all still make decisions to protect the planet and each other. We can do better than our failing government. We live in a different era than our parents, in that we are now presented data regarding climate change and the carbon footprint of humans, especially those in developed nations. If one accepts the data, the decision to come up with a new plan doesn’t seem so absurd. There is a knee-jerk reaction to the Fair Start model, but if we can get past that, the model helps open us up to think about more factors than previous generations may have.

Personally, I currently have no kids. I have been part of Plan International USA (not affiliated with HK) for nine years, where I provide monthly donations to a community and hear back from the Plan-sponsored child. The first child was in Cambodia and the current child is in the Philippines. It’s rewarding to hear about community improvements, from latrines to school supplies.

The success of family planning can be seen in nations like Thailand, where the population has remained at a steady level for decades and its citizens have enjoyed greater access to federally-funded healthcare and education than some of its neighbors. Also, per capita income has nearly doubled since 1971, when the policy officially launched. 

So long as the methods are noncoercive, I don’t see a downside to the Fair Start model. On the contrary, as the White Paper (draft) articulates so well, there are many upsides at the micro and macro levels.

About the Fair Start model:

Today many families are adopting the Fair Start family planning model. First, they try to give their child a fair start in life by having a smaller family where they can invest more in their child. Often they also foster or adopt one of the many children eagerly waiting for parents. Second, they a public role model of these choices. Finally, these families join public advocacy campaigns to shift resources from extractive centers of power like governments, corporations, and wealthy families in order to democratically empower children and future citizens by incentivizing better family planning by all parents. Why? All parents know that the quality of their own child’s life will depend on the decisions of other parents regarding having and raising kids.

By using the Fair Start model as a guide, families are simply saying this: “If you plan a smaller family with more investment in each child, we’ll do the same. We’ll also help each other, whenever we can, to make sure all our kids get a fair start in life.”

In the long term, Fair Start family planning is the best way to promote human rights and build resilient populations that can thrive in future environments. Studies also suggest it is the most effective way to improve child welfare, create equity, and protect animals and the environment, all at the same time. It’s the key to the future we want.

Today Having Kids sent a letter to Prince William and Kate Middleton, respectfully urging the royal couple to lead by example and consider forgoing having a third child (as they intimated they might). The letter also suggested the couple might use the opportunity to highlight the importance of family planning and to work with other families to plan better starts in life for their children.

The British royal family sets an extremely influential example in everything they do. Many studies also show that public figures serve as especially effective role models when it comes to family planning. As much-loved public figures, William and Kate have a unique capability to model a sustainable small family, and Having Kids would love to see them do so.

Recently, scientists like those involved in the highly-publicized study from Lund University in Sweden have confirmed that the best way to reduce climate change is to have fewer children. “William and Kate have a tremendous opportunity to model their choice of a smaller family. In doing so, they would set a powerful example of mitigating climate change and its impacts, including impacts on the United Kingdom like severe flooding, deadlier heatwaves, increase in diseases, and wildlife extinctions,” said Having Kids Executive Director Anne Green.

“Moreover, given the vast economic inequalities in the world today, the couple also has the opportunity to model a simple principle: Every child deserves a fair start in life,” said Green.

The letter also calls upon the couple to consider using some of the resources that would have gone into the cost of a third child to help other couples plan a better start in life for their own children. Few children will have the advantages and opportunities in life Prince George and Princess Charlotte have, but we can start to close that gap with better family planning.

At Having Kids:

We promote and protect every child’s right to a fair start in life by replacing unsustainable, parent-centered family planning models with the human rights-based and child-centered Fair Start family planning model. The model suggests a shift in family planning from a subjective focus on just the parents, to an objective focus that considers the interests of the potential child, the parents, and the community.

It’s all about this: Smaller families working together to give every child a fair start in life.

Today many families are adopting the Fair Start family planning model. First, they try to give their child a fair start in life by having a smaller family where they can invest more in their child. Often they also foster or adopt one of the many children eagerly waiting for parents rather than creating additional need. Second, they publicly role model their choices. Finally, these families join public advocacy campaigns to shift resources from extractive centers of power like governments, corporations, and wealthy families in order to democratically empower children and future citizens by incentivizing better family planning by all parents. Why? All parents know that the quality of their own child’s life will depend on how other parents decide to have and raise their kids.