Child care editorial draws on research by Philip Cohen

An editorial in Fortune magazine by Julie Kohler and Nicole Rogers of Family Story, examines varying approaches to child care, finding fault with proposals that would "block public investments in child care."

"Conservatives allege that a plurality of Americans prefer a 1950s-style family arrangement and that 'lower and working-class' Americans would choose cash payments over other forms of 'care infrastructure', such as child care and paid leave," based on a survey by the conservative think-tank American Compass, the authors write. Dr. Cohen comments, “It is impossible to rely on the responses they reported for policy purposes,"' because of numerous methodological concerns with, among other things, the sample, timing, and social class categorizations in the survey.

Additionally, the survey appears to indicate a preference for "one parent to stay at home with the children." Dr. Cohen notes, “Lower income parents may want the option to stay home with their children, but given the option of affordable, accessible, high-quality child care, history shows most parents would like to take advantage of it." 

See the complete Fortune editorial

Don’t let the right turn childcare into class warfare, Fortune, May 28, 2021, Philip Cohen