U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Our Basic Dream: Keeping Faith With America's Working Families and Their Children

NCJ Number
186908
Author(s)
Rima Shore
Date Published
October 2000
Length
64 pages
Annotation
In telling the story of American families who cannot lift themselves out of poverty despite honest, hard work, this report focuses on public responsibility for children and presents the Foundation for Child Development's (FCD's) agenda for change that reflects the focus of the FCD's grant-making and pursues a goal sought by successive generations of Americans.
Abstract
Part 1 describes the changing economic and social conditions that affect children's families' capacity to develop their full potential. Part 2 discusses the impact of these conditions on children's lives today and on their prospects for tomorrow. Part 3 widens the lens, focusing on the specific requirements and resources of working families. It discusses various measures used to measure family economic security and shows how those measures shape current policies and programs. Part 4 presents a range of strategies that hold promise for improving the prospects of low-wage working families and their children. The report calls for a renegotiation of the social compact that binds the Nation's diverse people into a civil society. In particular, it advocates a restoration of the balance between private initiative and public responsibility that has characterized the Nation's most ambitious and successful endeavors. Policymakers at the Federal and State levels must recognize that current policies do not give all families a fair opportunity to fulfill the American dream. Policymakers must look beyond the current welfare-to-work agenda and consider broader social and economic strategies that will improve the prospects of all low-wage earners and their families. The FCD urges vigorous and sustained advocacy in all walks of life -- across economic, ethnic, and generational lines -- to ensure that all working Americans have the opportunity to achieve the basic American dream. 150 notes