Cory Booker is right. It’s time to target inequality, and baby bonds, as he proposes, are a great way to do it. But what if we could create more equity for kids and protect our environment – the environment our children will need in the future, at the same time? We can.
Today the national child-protection organization Having Kids called upon the District of Columbia to adopt a sustainable guaranteed income for children in the District, one pegged to better family planning. The idea is simple: The District can reach many of its goals at once by promoting smaller families so that communities and families can invest more in each child. The policy is centered around every child’s right to a fair start in life, and is designed to address the greatest threats facing the District and nation, including inequality and climate change.
Can Washington D.C. make a difference by itself? It can for its residents. But it can also lead by example and set a trend – a line of dominoes – for the rest of the nation.
The policy urges the District to adopt a stable community model, where the financial resources formerly required to support growth could be directed to other beneficial investments. Rather than focusing on blunt and unsustainable economic growth, the Having Kids GMI proposal shrinks the wealth gap by specifically contemplating (1) household resources per capita, (2) level of access to public services such as health and education and (3) above all, the relationship between a child’s fair start in life and prospects for success.
Several studies show that smaller families are the best way to confront climate change, as well as other and related environmental crises. Research also confirms the disproportionate impact of early childhood development on human wellbeing and inequality later in life.
The current family planning model in use makes our future less secure, healthy and equitable than it should be. Having Kids Executive Director Anne Green said this: “We offer the child-first Fair Start family planning model as a sustainable and equitable alternative. The Fair Start model is cooperative rather than isolationist, is based upon binding sources of international law, and provides a clear human rights-based solution to our biggest problems and a path forward.”
Tweet @MayorBowser and ask her to adopt sustainable income for kids that is tied to family planning.
