Tracing policy decisions from early America to today, the reports reveal how long-standing choices continue to shape access and outcomes for families.
Press Contact: Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, sydne.lewis@vanderbilt.edu
The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University published the first installment in a series of reports, Social Policy Histories: Tracing Inequity in Policy Design and Its Consequences for Families, depicting how intentional policy choices have left families of color and families earning low incomes with inequitable access to public resources and services designed to support them in times of need.
Grounded in the rigorous analysis of public policies and historical data, the series documents specific points at which an individual’s race, gender and socioeconomic status influenced who was able to receive access to critical resources and under what conditions. Real-world examples of exclusionary policies in practice are embedded throughout the reports to not only highlight the establishment and adaptation of inequitable systems, but to reflect the generational inheritance of disparities over time.
“The policy histories are a result of carefully developed research that brings implications of policy decisions into focus. Designed to guide meaningful dialogue around long-standing disparities that have influenced family stability and economic opportunity, the reports can challenge us to look closely at the data and acknowledge the struggles of those who are often overlooked,” said Cynthia Osborne, executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center. “By examining decisions made across generations, these reports elevate the experiences of countless families who have navigated systemic barriers and provide an evidence-based understanding of how policy decisions, past and present, shape everyday lives.”
The first set of reports focuses on two critical areas, The History of Paid Family Leave Policies and The History of Child Care Policies. Both reports examine how long-standing narratives about which families were viewed as deserving of public support contributed to the exclusion of certain families, particularly families of color, from critical social supports. The reports also reveal consistent exclusion of Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities, demonstrating how policy design led to disparate outcomes across key areas such as employment opportunities, fair wages, and eligibility for financial support.
Though the social policy histories trace key developments back to their earliest periods, the research makes clear that the effects of these decisions extend far beyond the past.
Policy choices dating back centuries continue to influence lived experiences and parameters of present-day policymaking, underscoring the importance of understanding how earlier decisions inform current policies and conditions.
At their core, these reports are designed to serve as educational resources that can support shared understanding among policymakers, educators, researchers, and the public, and to help inform future decisions that will shape family trajectories for generations to come. The Center will continue to build on these findings and develop future reports in the series to highlight how oppressed groups experience a range of policies, as well as the capabilities for policies to improve lives by better meeting diverse needs.
The full policy histories series is now available at www.pn3policy.org/social-policy-histories/.
About the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center
The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center is a nonpartisan research center at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development that provides state leaders with clear, evidence-based policy solutions to improve the lives of young children and their families. For more information, visit pn3policy.org.
