Glossary

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From Reluctant Student to Passionate Proponent: How Youth have Used Family Policy to Change the World

Collective bargaining rights: Organized workers’ practice of negotiating with their employers for the terms of their contract, wages, and working conditions, usually through a trade union that speaks on behalf of the employees.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): A state and federal tax policy that has been shown to be an effective and efficient anti-poverty measure; the credit targets low-income, working individuals and families who pay into the tax system and receive a refund if their earnings do not reach a specified income level.
Economic downturn: Period of financial decline typified by rising unemployment, lower income levels, and a decrease in spending.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family Impact Institute: A national organization founded in 1976 (previously known as the Family Impact Seminars and the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars) to provide policymakers and professionals with nonpartisan, solution-oriented research on many complex issues being debated by state legislatures across the country, and to encourage policymakers to view issues through a family impact and racial equity lens.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Grassroots activism: Political actions of ordinary citizens, often at the local level, banding together to influence a political outcome they feel strongly about.
Head Start: Preschool program created by the federal government in 1965 to provide services promoting good health and school readiness for disadvantaged children; the program involves families and emphasizes the role of parents as children’s first teachers.
Illusion of knowledge: Information or ideas that give the impression of being true but are false.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Political activism: Strong actions, violent or nonviolent, aimed at influencing a political outcome.
Politics: In the United States, a system whereby representatives of two or more worldviews compete to win seats in government bodies and then debate to influence policy in line with their views.
Private-sector unions: An organized group of laborers working for privately-owned firms, whose leadership negotiates for the rights and interests of the group’s shared goals.
Public-sector unions: An organized group of public-sector laborers (working for government-run organizations) whose leadership negotiates for the rights and interests of the group’s shared goals.
Psychology: The study of the human mind.
Respite care: Services providing a reprieve for caregivers of the elderly, disabled, or chronically ill, by taking over their care responsibilities for a period of time.
Retraining opportunities: Chances for the unemployed/underemployed to learn new skills that better equip them for the workforce.
Sociology: The study of groups of people (societies) and how they organize, develop, and behave.
Solidarity movement: An international, nonviolent social movement that began as a political uprising by an independent trade union in the 1980s in Communist Poland that made significant headway against Soviet rule.
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): Federal policy enacted in 1997 providing matching funds to states offering health insurance to low-income children, specifically those who cannot afford insurance but whose parents earn too much for Medicaid eligibility.
Tea Party: A politically and economically conservative grassroots movement that formed around 2009 and quickly attracted many members, fighting for decreased spending and lowering the national debt.
Theology: The study of God, divinity, and religious truth.
Unemployment benefits: Government supplemental income for the unemployed, usually with specific criteria for inclusion, and requirements that the worker seek new employment.

Why We Should Focus on Families in Policymaking, and Why We Don't

Anthropology: The study of human beings, their history, their development, and their cultures, often studied on location, in great depth, and for long periods of time.
Autism: A pervasive developmental disorder marked by differences in many areas including social communication, motor skills, and sometimes intellectual skills.
Defense of Marriage Act: Federal policy signed in 1996 defining marriage as between one man and one woman and limiting marriage benefits to couples meeting this criterion.
Evidence-based policy: Policy or practice that is guided by the most up-to-date research outcomes in that field of study.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family impacts: The past, present, or probable future effects of a policy, program, agency, or organization on family stability, family relationships, and family members' ability to carry out their responsibilities.
Family impact analysis: Evidence-based method of critically examining the past, present, or probable future effects of a policy, program, agency, or organization on family stability, family relationships, and family members' ability to carry out their responsibilities; goes beyond family evaluation to consider how program goals may inadvertently or unintentionally result in negative consequences for families.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family life education movement: Trend beginning in the early 20th century that prepared students for family life functions through coursework typically taught in social science departments.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Head Start: Preschool program created by the federal government in 1965 to provide services promoting good health and school readiness for disadvantaged children; the program involves families and emphasizes the role of parents as children's first teachers.
Home equity: The pocket value of a home or property, based on fair market value, when the amount owed on the property (e.g., mortgages, liens) is excluded.
National Council on Family Relations: Professional association of researchers, educators, and practitioners dedicated to the study and strengthening of families worldwide, and publishing three scholarly journals including Journal of Marriage and Family and Family Relations.
Paid family leave: Policy allowing a worker time off to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member, while continuing to receive some income; in many nations, but not the United States, paid family leave is legally guaranteed and sometimes even subsidized by the government.
Parental leave: Workforce policy allowing either parent of a child to take (paid or unpaid) time off to care for that child, most commonly used in the case of a child's birth, adoption, or sickness.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired, or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Privatization: Policies that change public programs/agencies into privately run enterprises subject to competitive market forces.
Psychiatric disorders: Mental irregularity or disability, generally influencing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, often stemming from physical distress in the brain and central nervous system.
Psychology: The study of the human mind.
Social Security Act: Legislation signed in 1935 to provide federal financial assistance to the retired, aging, and unemployed.
Socioeconomic status: Hierarchical ranking of an individual's or group's position in a particular social structure that is based on multiple variables such as level of education, occupation, income, and place of residence.
Sociology: The study of groups of people (societies) and how they organize, develop, and behave.

Defining Family Policy: An Identity of Its Own

Cohabitation: Practice of living together intimately without being legally married.
Deregulation: Policies that decrease the level of governmental control over a system or industry.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): A state and federal tax policy that has been shown to be an effective and efficient anti-poverty measure; the credit targets low-income, working individuals and families who pay into the tax system and receive a refund if their earnings do not reach a specified income level.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family law: Professional field dedicated to the interpretation and application of policies that are relevant to families.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family status: An individual's position in a family that can determine how policies affect the individual (e.g., whether an individual is cohabitating with his/her partner or legally married, whether a child is still considered a dependent of his/her parents for tax purposes, etc.).
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Lobbyist: Professional political advocate who supports a specific interest group.
Medicaid: Collaborative program of the federal and state governments, providing medical benefits for low-income citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States meeting eligibility requirements.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Political action committees: Organizations formed to raise and disperse large amounts of money supporting their favored political candidates and initiatives.
Privatization: Policies that change public programs/agencies into privately run enterprises subject to competitive market forces.
Reunification: The reuniting of immigrant families, supported by policies such as expedited visas for spouses and children of immigrants already settled in the United States.
Transnational families: Families that are split between their country of origin and a new country, generally when one parent finds work in another country and sends earnings home to support his/her own family.

Policies and Practices Biased Toward Individual Rights over Family Responsibilities

Achievement gap: Stark difference in levels of academic success between the “haves” and “have-nots,” generally separated by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and other social indicators of well-being.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA): Statistical method for comparing two groups, and the variation within each, to see if they are significantly different in their level of variance.
Attachment theory: Foundational theory in developmental research, relying on the work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, emphasizing the centrality of early human interactions and relationships in a child’s social and emotional development.
Cohabitation: Practice of living together intimately without being legally married.
Constitutional autonomy: Legal precedent protecting the independence of an individual or an institution to make decisions and rules in his/her/its own sphere of influence.
Defense of Marriage Act: Federal policy signed in 1996 defining marriage as between one man and one woman and limiting marriage benefits to couples meeting this criterion.
Devolution: Transfer of legislative power from a central governing institution to more regional centers of government (i.e., to the state and local government authorities).
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): A state and federal tax policy that has been shown to be an effective and efficient anti-poverty measure; the credit targets low-income, working individuals and families who pay into the tax system and receive a refund if their earnings do not reach a specified income level.
Ecological family systems theory: A theory of human development that explains how interactions among family, school, neighborhood, society, and the larger culture (including policies and laws) influence individual learning and behavior.
Equal Protection Clause: The portion of the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing all people “equal protection” under U.S. laws, which has in recent years been ruled by the federal courts to be relevant to families in some new ways (e.g., ending the favoring of mothers over fathers in child custody disputes, informing decisions regarding same-sex marriage).
Familism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided primarily by prioritizing the values and needs of the family and subordinating the ambitions of the individual.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Intraclass correlations: Statistical technique for estimating how much similarity there is between members of a group.
Jurisprudence system: Legal system, court system.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Medicaid: Collaborative program of the federal and state governments, providing medical benefits for low-income citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States meeting eligibility requirements.
Multi-level modeling: Statistical techniques that can describe relationships between variables when data is varied on multiple levels.
Multiple-partner fertility: Parents bearing children with more than one partner.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Privatization of family law: Increasingly prevalent legal practice of treating marriages and families as private contractual arrangements, prioritizing the rights and obligations of individuals rather than the collective needs and commitments of the family as a social institution.
Psychology: The study of the human mind.
Psychiatry: A branch of medicine that diagnoses and treats mental disorders.
Regression: Statistical method, referred to as regression analysis, that estimates the relation between two or more variables, and predicts the value of one variable (i.e., the dependent variable) based on the value of another variable (i.e., the independent variable).
Respite care: Services providing a reprieve for caregivers of the elderly, disabled, or chronically ill, by taking over their care responsibilities for a period of time.
Rogerian, cognitive, behavioral, or psychodynamic traditions: Predominant theories of therapeutic change from the clinical psychology field, all focused on the client’s needs and interests as an individual.
Structural equation modeling: Statistical method in which a hypothesis is tested by putting potential causal factors into an equation that models what the scientist hypothesizes to be the process at work; this can be adjusted and repeated to find models that are increasingly more accurate reflections of the process under scrutiny.
Structural family systems theory: A theory developed by Salvador Minuchin to explain family dysfunction. Structural Family Therapists strive to understand the invisible rules which govern family functioning, map the relationships between family members, and ultimately change dysfunctional relationships into healthy ones. In keeping with a systems theory approach, Minuchin argues that pathology rests not in the individual, but within the family system. Also, processes in the family system help members adapt to changes in their cultural, economic, and social contexts
Systemic measures: Social science research methods that examine a family or a system of people in relation to each other, in contrast to techniques that examine only one individual.
Symbiotic relationship: A connection between two organisms that function together interdependently.
Title I parent involvement plan: Document that stipulates how parents will be involved in their students’ education; this plan must be written, discussed with, and distributed to parents as a prerequisite to a school district receiving federal (Title I) funding to assist low-income students.

How Families Support Society and How Societies Support Families: A Global View

Accreditation: System granting credentials to institutions or programs meeting standards of high quality.
Attachment relationship: Child’s first and central human connection that significantly shapes his/her social and emotional development; this relationship is most healthy (secure) when caregivers are appropriately sensitive and responsive to the child.
Bourgeois marriage: European (French) term referring to a conventional marriage in high society, with a focus on maintaining social status and material wealth.
Cognitive (hard) skills: The concrete knowledge and technical ability required to complete a task or to fill a job.
Cognitive theory: Theory explaining how people process information and come to “know” things.
Cost-benefit analyses: Methods for considering the best return on public investments, based on what a policy option will require (what it will cost) compared to what it will return (what its benefits will be) with the aim of developing efficient ways to improve social life.
Covenant marriage: Option in some parts of the United States to enter a distinct type of marriage agreement designed to promote marital longevity, requiring premarital counseling and recognizing fewer legal grounds for divorce.
Decentralized: Dispersed throughout a large area, not gathered up in one place (i.e., child care in the United States is funded and administered privately by parents and caregivers locally across the nation, rather than being run by a central government agency).
Effect size: Statistical indication of how big the impact of a policy or program is on the population of interest.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family allowance: Cash subsidy offered monthly to parents or guardians of young children in some nations (e.g., Sweden); the United States offers no direct family allowance, but offers support through tax exemptions and credits.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Fragile families: Couples who are unmarried when their children are born who are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than traditional families; fragile families is an emerging term to describe families previously called single-parent families, which does not recognize rising levels of cohabitation.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
Human capital: The economic value of human beings each representing specific competencies, skills, and an ability to produce wealth.
Income inequality: Imbalance in the levels of income earned across various segments of society.
Income support: Supplement that increases the income level of an individual or family.
Longitudinal studies: Research studies that examine the effect of a program or variable over a long period of time by measuring outcomes at several points in time.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
“Make Work Pay”: Various workforce reforms including tax reductions and credits, and minimum wage increases, all aimed at increasing employment to move families out of poverty.
Maternity benefits: Various supports offered to mothers in the workforce, including maternity leave (paid or unpaid time off from work upon birth or adoption of a child), flexibility in work hours, child care supports, etc.
Medicaid: Collaborative program of the federal and state governments, providing medical benefits for low-income citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States meeting eligibility requirements.
Myopic: Short-sighted or overly simplistic.
Noncognitive (soft) skills: Non-technical skills required to succeed in the workforce, such as the ability to work with people, communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): International association with 34 member nations, with a mission of cooperating to improve social and economic realities for people around the world; membership includes strong, advanced nations as well as emerging nations and up-and-coming leaders.
Paid family leave: Policy allowing a worker time off to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member, while continuing to receive some income; in many nations, but not the United States, paid family leave is legally guaranteed and sometimes even subsidized by the government.
Paternity leave: Workforce policy allowing the father of a child to take (paid or unpaid) time off to care for that child, most commonly used in the case of a child’s birth, adoption, or sickness.
Public policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public sector.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Promiscuity: Indiscriminate sexuality with more than one partner.
Secure attachment relationship: Condition of a child that has a healthy relationship with his/her caregiver that is associated with good social outcomes in childhood and throughout life.
Social mobility: Movement between socioeconomic groups or classes within society.
Values: Principles or qualities that are intrinsically desirable to an individual or group.

How Society Shapes Families: A U.S. View

Anthropologist: Social scientist who studies human beings, their history, their development, and their cultures, often studying on location, in great depth, and for long periods of time.
Ayn Rand: Russian-American novelist who was a staunch proponent of individualism.
Capitalism: Economic and cultural system based on free market competition between private owners of goods and corporations that places a high value on work and competition for profit.
Cohabitation: Practice of living together intimately without being legally married.
Collectivist: Basing social behavior on the needs and identity of the group, family, or community; in this worldview collective goals take precedence over individual goals, and interdependence within the group is emphasized.
Communitarian: Person or platform advocating the importance of our responsibilities to the groups, families, and communities of which we are members.
Ethos: Overarching set of beliefs or assumptions that guide a group.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Fragile families: Couples who are unmarried when their children are born who are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than traditional families; fragile families is an emerging term to describe families previously called single-parent families, which does not recognize rising levels of cohabitation.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Market economy: An economic system in which production, investments, and prices are controlled by free market forces, by supply and demand, without interference by government control mechanisms.
Multiple-partner fertility: Parents bearing children with more than one partner.
Parental leave: Workforce policy allowing either parent of a child to take (paid or unpaid) time off to care for that child, most commonly used in the case of a child's birth, adoption, or sickness.
Pedagogical: Relating to education.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Privatization of family functions: Phenomenon whereby even intangible family functions such as love and emotional support become commodities to buy and sell in the private market; for example, families can buy someone to plan birthday parties, visit grandma, and brand oneself on an Internet dating site.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired, or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Safety net: System of government policies that provides social and economic supports to individuals and families (i.e., antipoverty and family support programs).
Social mobility: Movement between socioeconomic groups or classes within society.
Socioeconomic status: Hierarchical ranking of an individual's or group's position in a particular social structure that is based on multiple variables such as level of education, occupation, income, and place of residence.
Sociologist: Social scientist who studies groups of people (societies) and how they organize, develop, and behave.
Tocquevillian: Characterized by getting involved in civic affairs and participating in the political system, not sitting on the sidelines; this term is named after a famous French political thinker and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville, who conducted an incisive and influential analysis of U.S. society in the 1830s and 1840s.

Families as a Legitimate Focus of Public Policy: Yesterday and Today

Care deficit: As more parents enter the workforce, there is a decline in the caregiving services that they can perform, including care to children, aging family members, and family members with disabilities or long-term illness.
Child Well-Being Index: Index of seven domains of child well-being (i.e., family economic well-being, health, safe/risky behavior, educational attainment, community engagement, social relationships, and emotional/spiritual well-being).
Family Impact Statements: Formal written statements that assess the impact of government policies and programs on family well-being.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.

How Current Policy Issues Can Benefit from the Family Impact Lens

BadgerCare: Wisconsin health care program providing coverage for low-income families with children; also the vehicle by which federal State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) benefits are distributed in Wisconsin.
Content analysis: Social scientific method for studying the content of human communications found in a variety of sources including books, manuscripts, journals, website, and laws.
Cost-benefit analyses: Methods for considering the best return on public investments, based on what a policy option will require (what it will cost) compared to what it will return (what its benefits will be) with the aim of developing efficient ways to improve social life.
Domestic policy: Public policy related to issues and activities within a nation's borders such as education, health care, natural resources, welfare, and personal rights and freedoms.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): A state and federal tax policy that has been shown to be an effective and efficient anti-poverty measure; the credit targets low-income, working individuals and families who pay into the tax system and receive a refund if their earnings do not reach a specified income level.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Fragile families: Couples who are unmarried when their children are born who are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than traditional families; fragile families is an emerging term to describe families previously called single-parent families, which does not recognize rising levels of cohabitation.
Gallup poll: A poll of the opinion of randomly chosen persons, used to represent the opinion of the public, conducted by George Gallup or one the companies he founded.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
Head Start:: Preschool program created by the federal government in 1965 to provide services promoting good health and school readiness for disadvantaged children; the program involves families and emphasizes the role of parents as children's first teachers.
Human capital: The economic value of human beings each representing specific competencies, skills, and an ability to produce wealth.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Juvenile delinquency: Illegal act committed by a minor (i.e., person under age 18) that would be a crime if the person was an adult.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Median household income: Statistical indicator that divides household into two equal segments with the first half of household earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more; not dramatically affected by very high or very low values of income as the average household income.
Medicaid: Collaborative program of the federal and state governments, providing medical benefits for low-income citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States meeting eligibility requirements.
Meta-analysis: Statistical method of combining results from multiple research studies in order to discover commonalities, differences, and interesting patterns across the studies' results.
Noncognitive skills: Non-technical skills required to succeed in the workforce, such as the ability to work with people, communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
Recidivism: The tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior, especially criminal behavior.
Resiliency: Ability to rebound from adversity, misfortune, or other crises and become subsequently strengthened and more resourceful in the face of future trauma or adversity.
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): Federal policy enacted in 1997 providing matching funds to states offering health insurance to low-income children, specifically those who cannot afford insurance but whose parents earn too much for Medicaid eligibility.
Social Security: Government assistance designed to safeguard the welfare of society's most vulnerable members (such as children, the elderly, and individuals who are disabled, unemployed, or chronically ill) by guaranteeing access to basic resources like food and shelter.
Welfare Peer Assistance Network (WELPAN): Group of welfare officials from seven Midwestern states who discuss the meaning and consequences of welfare reform, particularly the tension between the way social assistance is structured at the federal level and the way services are delivered at the local and state levels.

Bridging Controversy and Building Consensus: The Theory of Paradox

Activists: Individuals taking strong action, either violent or nonviolent, aimed at influencing a political outcome.
Cognitive: Relating to the processes whereby we know, think, and reason.
Cohabitation: Practice of living together intimately without being legally married.
Communitarian: Person or platform advocating the importance of our responsibilities to the groups, families, and communities of which we are members.
Devolution: Transfer of legislative power from a central governing institution to more regional centers of government (i.e., to the state and local government authorities).
Dyadic: Relating to a pair (two).
Egalitarian: Characterized by human equality.
Empirical: Testable in a research setting.
Error (statistical): Statistical estimate of the likelihood that a finding happens by chance and does not actually represent a true effect.
Ethnographic studies: Qualitative research studies in which the researcher observes a culture firsthand and then reports findings in a descriptive manner.
Ethos: Overarching set of beliefs or assumptions that guide a group.
Familism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided primarily by prioritizing the values and needs of the family and subordinating the ambitions of the individual.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) child rearing, and (e) caregiving.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Ideology: System of beliefs that guide an individual or group.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Industrialization: Cultural shift from a rural agriculturally-based society to one marked by more manufacturing and advancements in technology.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Moral absolutism: Belief in true (or absolute) right and wrong.
Moral relativism: Belief that right and wrong are not absolute; they vary and may depend on the time, the culture, and each one’s personal preference or understanding.
Narcissism: Obsession with self; egocentrism.
Parental leave: Workforce policy allowing either parent of a child to take (paid or unpaid) time off to care for that child, most commonly used in the case of a child’s birth, adoption, or illness.
Partisan: Representing or supported by members of a single political party or group.
Patriarchal: Characterized by male headship.
Pluralism: Presence of more than one belief system.
Polarization: Sharp division of public opinion that leads to opposing factions or groups that often go to extremes; as a consequence, moderate voices often lose power and influence.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Politicians: Representatives of two or more worldviews competing to win seats in government bodies and then debating to influence policy in line with their views.
Qualitative research: Research design involving observation or open-ended interviewing, usually resulting in data that is descriptive and not easily quantifiable.
Safety net: System of government policies that provides social and economic supports to individuals and families (i.e., antipoverty and family support programs).
Serial families: Social phenomenon in which a parent may have a “series” of families, and may even owe child support to several.
Sociologist: Social scientist who studies groups of people (societies) and how they organize, develop, and behave.
Structural equation modeling: Statistical method in which a hypothesis is tested by putting potential causal factors into an equation that models what the scientist hypothesizes to be the process at work; this can be adjusted and repeated to find models that are increasingly more accurate reflections of the process under scrutiny.
Theory of Paradox: Conceptual framework for moving beyond the differences of seemingly antithetical viewpoints by recognizing the validity and utility of each and, in so doing, framing policy debate in a way that has the potential to foster compromise.
True paradox: Concept espoused by social scientist Julian Rappaport in which two ideas or principles seem initially irreconcilable with each other but prove, upon closer scrutiny, to be simultaneously valid.
Ubiquitous: Universal, or existing in all places at all times.
Urbanization: Cultural phenomenon in which a larger percentage of the population lives in cities or takes on urban characteristics over time.
Values: Principles or qualities that are intrinsically desirable to an individual or group.

Looking Back to Move Forward: Lessons from the History of Family Policy

Anarchism: Political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, or harmful. Proponents of anarchism, known as “anarchists,” advocate for stateless societies based on non-hierarchical free associations.
Autism: A pervasive developmental disorder marked by differences in many areas including social communication, motor skills, and sometimes intellectual skills.
Compulsory education: A period of education that is required of every person in a given society.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Family preservation: A movement that began in the 1890s to help keep children at home with their families rather than in foster homes or institutions. This movement was a reaction to the earlier policy removing children from homes that were deemed unfit. In 1909 it was the top ranked issue by the White House Conference on Children. In order to keep families together, the family would be given enough money so that the mother would not have to work a full-time job. The families that were given this assistance were usually headed by widows.
Frederick Taylor’s scientific management theory: Theory of management that analyzed workflow for the purpose of improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity in the manufacturing industries of the 1880s and 1890s.
Gallup poll: A poll of the opinion of randomly chosen persons, used to represent the opinion of the public, conducted by George Gallup or one the companies he founded.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Infant mortality rates: The number of deaths within the first year of life per 1,000 births in the population.
Medical dispensary: A place that dispenses or provides free or low-cost medical treatment.
Mortality rates: Death rates in a given population.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Postmature birth: Children born after an expected due date.
Progressive Era (1890 – 1920): Progressivism is the term applied to a variety of responses to the economic and social problems rapid industrialization introduced to America. Progressivism began as a social movement and grew into a political movement. The early progressives rejected Social Darwinism and believed that the problems society faced (e.g., poverty, violence, greed, racism, class warfare) could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace.
Sheppard-Towner Act (1921): Also known as the “Promotion of the Welfare and Hygiene of Maternity and Infancy Act,” this act provided federal funding for maternity and child care; it is notable for being the first major legislation that came into existence after the full enfranchisement of women during the Progressive Era.
Social Darwinism: A theory popular in the late 19th and early 20th century proposing survival of the fittest in society as in nature.
Social problems: Term criticized by family policy alternatives educators because there are few problems that affect everyone equally in any given society.
Technocrats: Technocracy is a form of government in which experts in technology are in control of all decisionmaking. Scientists, engineers, and technologists who have knowledge, expertise, or skills, would compose the governing body, instead of politicians and businessmen.
Temperance: Social movement urging reduced or prohibited use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements have historically criticized excessive alcohol use, promoting complete abstinence (teetotalism) or pressuring the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.
Welfare Peer Assistance Network (WELPAN): Group of welfare officials from seven Midwestern states who discuss the meaning and consequences of welfare reform, particularly the tension between the way social assistance is structured at the federal level and the way services are delivered at the local and state levels.

What Policymakers and the Policy Process are Really Like

Congress: Legislative branch of the U.S. Federal Government that is comprised of the House of Representative and the Senate and whose powers are limited to those specified in the U.S. Constitution; other powers are reserved to states and their citizens.
Constituents: Members of a group who are empowered to elect or designate another person such as an elected official to act as their representative.
Democracy: A society in which all members share equal power.
House of Delegates or Assembly: Alternative title for the House of Representatives.
House of Representatives: One of the two chambers of Congress that consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves a two-year term.
Ideology: System of beliefs that guide an individual or group.
Lobbyists: Groups of individuals who try to influence policymakers or other public officials in favor of a specific cause or interest.
Machiavellian: Term derived from the work of the 16th century Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolo Machiavelli to describe a person who manipulates or deceives other people for their own benefit.
Nonpartisan: Representing or supported by the interests or policies of no single political party or group.
Policy administrators: county and state agency personnel and directors of nonprofit organizations who develop the practices and procedures that underlie policy and program implementation.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired, or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Qualitative study: The focus is on narrative description with words rather than numbers to analyze patterns and their underlying meanings. Specific methods include case studies, focus groups, program monitoring, and process evaluations.
Secession: The act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity.
Senate: One of the two chambers of Congress that consists of 100 senators (two from each state), each of whom serves a six-year term.
Supreme Court: Highest judicial body within a jurisdiction whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court; in the United States there is one Supreme Court, but each state has its own high court over which the U.S. Supreme Court only has jurisdiction on issues related to federal laws.

Building Family-Focused Policy: The Family Impact Lens Toolkit

Boundaries: In family systems theory, boundaries establish family membership by determining who is a member and who is an outsider. Boundaries influence how information, support, and validation of the family unit are sought.
Ecological family systems theory: A theory of human development that explains how interactions among family, school, neighborhood, society, and the larger culture (including policies and laws) influence individual learning and behavior.
Evidence-based policy: Policy or practice that is guided by the most up-to-date research outcomes in that field of study.
Evidence-informed policy: Policy decisions that are informed by evidence, but not entirely based on that evidence alone.
Family impact analysis: Evidence-based method of critically examining the past, present, or probable future effects of a policy, program, agency, or organization on family stability, family relationships, and family members' ability to carry out their responsibilities; goes beyond family evaluation to consider how program goals may inadvertently or unintentionally result in negative consequences for families.
Family structure: The composition and membership of a family, including the organization and patterning of relationships among individual family members (e.g., stepfamily, extended family, same-sex partners).
Focus group: A small group of people whose opinions and ideas are sought about a topic in order to determine or predict the type of response that can be expected from a larger population.
Open policy windows theoretical framework: Policy can be changed during a window of opportunity when conditions are right for social change on an issue.
Participatory practices: Individualized practices that intentionally and positively enhance family functioning by providing choices and input into decisionmaking.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Power: The family's ability to achieve goals, wishes, and desires even in the face of opposition from others.
Recidivism: The tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior, especially criminal behavior.
Reintegration: The process of transitioning from a state in which an individual was not a functioning member of society into a state where the individual controls and directs his or her own life.
Relational practices: Strength-based practices that relay positive beliefs about family functioning and capabilities such as active listening, compassion, empathy, and respect.
Resilience: A family's ability to rebound from adversity, misfortune, or other crises and become subsequently strengthened and more resourceful in the face of future trauma or adversity.
Self-efficacy: A sense of confidence that one can perform the behaviors that are demanded in a specific situation.
Stakeholder: Person or group of individuals that are involved in or affected by a course of action.
Structural family systems theory: A theory developed by Salvador Minuchin to explain family dysfunction. Structural family therapists strive to understand the invisible rules which govern family functioning, map the relationships between family members, and ultimately change dysfunctional relationships into healthy ones. In keeping with a systems theory approach, Minuchin argues that pathology rests not in the individual, but within the family system. Also, processes in the family system help members adapt to changes in their cultural, economic, and social contexts.
Transactional patterns: Individualized ways in which a family regulates and structures itself in order to interact and accomplish the tasks of life.

Building Evidence-Based Family Policy: Insights from the Family Impact Seminars

Bipartisan: Representing or supported by members from two parties or factions, most commonly two major political parties or groups.
Cluster analysis: Analytic technique of grouping variables in such a way that variables in the same group or “cluster” are more similar to each other than to those in other groups or “clusters.”
Constituents: Members of a group who are empowered to elect or designate another person such as an elected official to act as their representative.
Corporatist: Idea that the society and economy of a country should be organized into corporations or major interest groups whose representatives solve problems through negotiation, compromise, and joint decisionmaking. Corporate economies function through collective bargaining rather than competition as found in market economies.
Ecological family systems theory: A theory of human development that explains how interactions among family, school, neighborhood, society, and the larger culture (including policies and laws) influence individual learning and behavior.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Lobbyists: Groups of individuals who try to influence policymakers or other public officials in favor of a specific cause or interest.
Mean: A measure of central tendency often referred to as the statistical average that is determined by adding all scores together and dividing by the number of scores.
Nonpartisan: Representing or supported by the interests or policies of no single political party or group.
Open policy windows: Policy can be changed during a window of opportunity when conditions are right for social change on an issue.
Paradigm shift: Term used by Thomas Kuhn (1962) to conceptualize how advances in scientific knowledge radically transform people’s views of the world, specifically how one conceptual worldview is replaced by another worldview.
Partisan: Representing or supported by members of a single political party or group.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one’s personal conscience.
Polarization: Sharp division of public opinion that leads to opposing factions or groups that often go to extremes; as a consequence, moderate voices often lose power and influence.
Predatory lending: Unscrupulous practice of loaning money to consumers with the hope and expectation that they will not be able to meet the terms and conditions of a loan, thereby benefiting lenders who take the collateral. Predatory lenders take unfair advantage of consumers’ lack of knowledge when imposing unnecessarily high interest rates or lending fees.
Racial equity lens: Perspective or framework that examines whether equal access to opportunities exists for all Americans regardless of their race.
Real family income: A measure of household income that is acquired by dividing households in specific geographic areas into groups with one half earning more than the median income and the other half earning less than the median income.
Reliability: A term used by researchers to indicate the consistency of a test or measure. A test is reliable if it yields approximately the same results each time the test is administered.
Retrospective pre- and post-test method: Evaluation technique used to gauge changes in individual’s knowledge or understanding; at the conclusion of an intervention, seminar, or workshop, individuals are asked to report their level of knowledge or understanding on specific items after their participation as well as their level of knowledge and understanding on these same items before their participation (that is, retrospectively). Any differences that emerge indicate whether or not the program was effective.
Social desirability bias: Tendency of respondents to answer questions inaccurately in order to present themselves in a favorable or desirable way. This type of bias affects the validity of data and research findings because individuals tend to over-report “good behavior” and under-report behaviors that are undesirable.
Standard deviation: A measure of variation (or variability) that indicates the typical distance between the scores of a distribution and the mean.
Structural family systems theory: A theory developed by Salvador Minuchin to explain family dysfunction. Structural family therapists strive to understand the invisible rules which govern family functioning, map the relationships between family members, and ultimately change dysfunctional relationships into healthy ones. In keeping with a systems theory approach, Minuchin argues that pathology rests not in the individual, but within the family system. Also, processes in the family system help members adapt to changes in their cultural, economic, and social contexts.
Trend analysis: Practice of collecting information and attempting to identify a pattern or trend in the information.

Deciding What You Can Do: Careers in Family Policy

Autism spectrum disorders: A pervasive developmental disorder marked by differences and disabilities in many areas including social communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, and sometimes intellectual skills.
Basic research: Type of research intended to increase understanding and not to yield immediate or applied benefits; pure research can be thought of as arising out of researchers' curiosity about a topic or phenomenon.
Benchmark: Measurable indicator of progress toward achieving goals (e.g., reduction in child maltreatment, participation rates in intervention programs, increases in number of persons served).
Causality: The relation between a cause and an effect.
Constituency: A body of citizens entitled to elect a representative as to a legislative or executive position.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): Inflationary indicator that measure the change in the cost of products and services such as food, housing, electricity, and transportation.
Correlation: Measure of the strength and direction of the relationship among variables.
Cost-benefit analyses: Methods for considering the best return on public investments, based on what a policy option will require (what it will cost) compared to what it will return (what its benefits will be) with the aim of developing efficient ways to improve social life.
Devolution: Transfer of legislative power from a central governing institution to more regional centers of government (i.e., to the state and local government authorities).
Experimental design: Random assignment of families to treatment and comparison groups in order to increase the likelihood of determining what factors or variables are causing an outcome(s).
Family evaluation research: Assessing whether programs or policies are meeting their stated goals or outcomes for families rather than outcomes for individuals.
Family impact analysis: Evidence-based method of critically examining the past, present, or probable future effects of a policy, program, agency, or organization on family stability, family relationships, and family members' ability to carry out their responsibilities; goes beyond family evaluation to consider how program goals may inadvertently or unintentionally result in negative consequences for families.
Family policy evaluation: Determining whether the stated goals or objectives of a program are being met.
Family policy implementation: Transforming policy goals into programs, operating procedures, and regulations.
Family preservation: A movement that began in the 1890s to help keep children at home with their families rather than in foster homes or institutions. This movement was a reaction to the earlier policy removing children from homes that were deemed unfit. In 1909 it was the top ranked issue by the White House Conference on Children. In order to keep families together, the family would be given enough money so that the mother would not have to work a full-time job. The families that were given this assistance were usually headed by widows.
Family research dissemination: Distributing research-based information and findings with the intent of seeing it used in policy and public arenas.
Family research integration: Providing concise, comprehensive reviews of research that summarize findings and draw relevant implications for policymakers.
Low-birth-weight infants: Infants who weigh less than 2500 grams (about 5 pounds, 8 ounces) at birth.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Postmature birth: Children born after an expected due date.
Prevention programs: Goal is to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for children and families. The framework of a prevention program can be used to match interventions to the needs of a targeted population.
Public problem solving: Citizens working together to solve common or shared problems rather than relying solely on government intervention or support.
Values: Principles or qualities that are intrinsically desirable to an individual or group.

Approaches for Getting Involved in Family Policy: Advocacy or Education

Empirical: Testable in a research setting.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Family policy advocacy: To campaign for an underrepresented group or a particular policy alternative that has the potential to enhance family well-being; the aim is to persuade.
Family policy alternatives education: Presenting research and other findings objectively without relaying personal preferences, value judgments, or biases; inform policy discourse by clarifying the potential consequences of several policy alternatives.
Lobbyist: Professional political advocate who supports a specific interest group.
Policy: Plan or course of action carried out through a law, rule, code, or other mechanism in the public or private sectors.
Policymaking: The practice of creating and shaping the laws or rules in the public or private sectors by leaders who are elected, hired or appointed to represent and reflect the views of constituents, weighing these views along with local and national perspective, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Program evaluation: Determining whether the stated goals or objectives of a program are being met.
Social conflict: Term that is preferred by family policy alternatives educators because it underscores the ideas that social conditions benefit some members of society more than other members; that is, some members of society face greater or lesser risk from a social condition.
Social problem: Term criticized by family policy alternatives educators because there are few problems that affect everyone equally in any given society.
Technocrats: Technocracy is a form of government in which experts in technology are in control of all decisionmaking. Scientists, engineers, and technologists who have knowledge, expertise, or skills, would compose the governing body, instead of politicians and businessmen.
Think tank: Term often used by journalists to describe an organization that engages in research and advocacy on topics such as social policy, economics, and culture; most think tanks are non-profit organizations.
Value: Principle or quality that is intrinsically desirable to an individual or group.

Making Family Policy Matter: Moving from Analysis to Action

Census data: Information about members of a given population that is systematically and routinely acquired.
Collective bargaining: Organized workers' practice of negotiating with their employers for the terms of their contract, wages, and working conditions, usually through a trade union that speaks on behalf of the employees.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): Inflationary indicator that measure the change in the cost of products and services such as food, housing, electricity, and transportation.
Democracy: A society in which all members share equal power.
Desegregation: Legal abolishment of the discriminatory practice of isolating individuals into separate schools, neighborhoods, and other social institutions based on their race, class, or ethnicity.
Evidence-based policy: Policy or practice that is guided by the most up-to-date research outcomes in that field of study.
Familism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided primarily by prioritizing the values and needs of the family and subordinating the ambitions of the individual.
Family: Not a universally defined entity, but rather a collection of people (two or more) that can be identified by its structural connection (blood relationship, legal ties, or residence), or by its functional connection (sharing economic resources or caring for its members who are young, elderly, ill, or have disabilities); the preferred definition often depends on the intent of a specific policy or program.
Family Impact Lens: The critical implicit roles that family considerations can play in any policy even if it does not explicitly address families or family functions as (a) a criterion for determining the impact of any policy or program on families; (b) a means for achieving other unrelated policy goals; and (c) administrators of public policy by determining eligibility for benefits and by distributing them to members.
Family Impact Seminars: Series of presentations, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide state policymakers with high-quality, objective research on current issues that affect families (e.g., child support, health care, juvenile crime, welfare reform).
Family policy: Policy that aims to protect, promote, and strengthen families by addressing one or more of the five explicit functions families perform: (a) family formation, (b) partnership support, (c) economic support, (d) childrearing, and (e) caregiving.
Fragile families: Couples who are unmarried when their children are born who are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than traditional families; fragile families is an emerging term to describe families previously called single-parent families, which does not recognize rising levels of cohabitation.
Gross National Product (GNP): The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.
Individualism: Worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures; the tendency of citizens to isolate themselves from their responsibilities to the larger society by focusing exclusively on themselves and their families.
Juvenile delinquent: Person under age 18 who participates in illegal acts that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult.
Long-term care: Broad range of services needed by people with chronic illness or disabling conditions; services range from assistance with (a) activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating and/or (b) instrumental activities of daily living such as household chores, meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, money management, and transportation.
Medicaid: Collaborative program of the federal and state governments, providing medical benefits for low-income citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States meeting eligibility requirements.
Parochial agenda: Tendency for local cultures or governments to make decisions based on local interests without considering the effect of those decisions on the broader community.
Philanthropist: Person who engages in goodwill and seeks to promote the welfare of others, often by donating money to charitable organizations.
Polarization: Sharp division of public opinion that leads to opposing factions or groups that often go to extremes; as a consequence, moderate voices often lose power and influence.
Policymaker: Elected, hired, or appointed leader at the local, state, or national level who creates and shapes the laws or rules in the public or private sectors; leaders represent and reflect the views of their constituents in public debate and weigh these views along with local and national perspectives, popular opinion, and each one's personal conscience.
Racial equity lens: Perspective or framework that examines whether equal access to opportunities exists for all Americans regardless of their race.
Social Security: Government assistance designed to safeguard the welfare of society's most vulnerable members (such as children, the elderly, and individuals who are disabled, unemployed, or chronically ill) by guaranteeing access to basic resources like food and shelter.
Socioeconomic status: Hierarchical ranking of an individual's or group's position in a particular social structure that is based on multiple variables such as level of education, occupation, income, and place of residence.
Stakeholder: Person or group of individuals that are involved in or affected by a course of action.
Tea Party: A politically and economically conservative grassroots movement that formed around 2009 and quickly attracted many members, fighting for decreased spending and lowering the national debt.
Theory of Paradox: Conceptual framework for moving beyond the differences of seemingly antithetical viewpoints by recognizing the validity and utility of each and, in so doing, framing policy debate in a way that has the potential to foster compromise.
Truancy: Intentional and unauthorized absence from compulsory education.
Values: Principles or qualities that are intrinsically desirable to an individual or group.

Family Policy Matters

Glossary

From Reluctant Student to Passionate Proponent: How Youth have Used Family Policy to Change the World

Why We Should Focus on Families in Policymaking, and Why We Don't

Defining Family Policy: An Identity of Its Own

Policies and Practices Biased Toward Individual Rights over Family Responsibilities

How Families Support Society and How Societies Support Families: A Global View

How Society Shapes Families: A U.S. View

Families as a Legitimate Focus of Public Policy: Yesterday and Today

How Current Policy Issues Can Benefit from the Family Impact Lens

Bridging Controversy and Building Consensus: The Theory of Paradox

Looking Back to Move Forward: Lessons from the History of Family Policy

What Policymakers and the Policy Process are Really Like

Building Family-Focused Policy: The Family Impact Lens Toolkit

Building Evidence-Based Family Policy: Insights from the Family Impact Seminars

Deciding What You Can Do: Careers in Family Policy

Approaches for Getting Involved in Family Policy: Advocacy or Education

Making Family Policy Matter: Moving from Analysis to Action