👋 The hatred and anger that often dominate discourse these days erode people’s belief in the possibility of progress. It’s easy to feel discouraged when high-decibel conflict drowns out the voice of cooperation.
But dedicated community activists, advocates, and local policymakers are persistently working together across the country to increase economic security and improve families’ health and well-being. We see the power of change in such efforts as expanding paid leave to care for loved ones, making quality child care more available and more affordable, and launching life-saving maternal health initiatives for every new mom.
Shared values drive this progress: the belief that every child has the right to grow up healthy, happy, and well cared for. As New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said in his recent State of the State address, “There is no greater investment we can make than in our children, the very foundation of our future.”
In New Jersey, the shared vision of making our state the best place to have and raise a child is enabling us to bridge divides and focus on what matters most.
This first issue of Starting Early in 2025 highlights successful bridge-building efforts, with children as both the foundation and the inspiration for expansive collaboration. In our interview, Joe Waters, CEO of independent think tank Capita, shares his thoughts on reimagining what society would look like if everyone put children first.
In this time of uncertainty, it’s comforting to see what people of good will can accomplish.
Atiya Weiss
Executive Director, the Burke Foundation
1 big thing: Children are the future
Child- and family-centered programs are making a difference for families and communities across the country. We want to highlight some initiatives helping to build family stability in New Jersey and reducing costs down the line:
Nurse home visits are now available to families of new babies in 11 counties on the way to coverage in all 21. By 2026, as many as 100,000 babies will benefit from the attention of trained nurses. So far, about 14% of mothers are being referred to potentially life-saving care for hemorrhaging, hypertension, and other serious health conditions; many more have been connected to breastfeeding support, mental health aid and such other resources as food, housing, and transportation.
Eligible parents and caregivers benefit from up to 12 weeks of paid family leave at up to 85% of their salary to care for a new baby, giving many parents more time to nurture and bond with new arrivals. This extra time off improves the health of mothers and babies and is linked to increased business productivity, higher employee morale, recruitment and retention of skilled workers, and lower staff turnover. And Governor Murphy in his 2025 State of the State called for up to 12 weeks’ at full pay to state government employees caring for newborns.
New Jersey expanded Pre-K to more children in the state, on the road to making early education available to every child — a proven strategy to improve educational performance. The state also is on a path to make free full-day kindergarten available to all. Both programs have the added benefit of decreasing the child care burden on many parents, strengthening the workforce.
⭐Best state for families⭐: New Jersey isn’t alone. Colorado, under Gov. Jared Polis, is the top state when it comes to increasing resources and support for families with young children, an analysis from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center finds. The state’s progress includes:
Targeted refundable tax credits to help parents pay the costs of raising children.
Launch of the Family Connects evidence-based universal home visiting model.
Expanding Medicaid and CHIP coverage to children and pregnant women previously ineligible due to immigration status.
Universal preschool is on track to save families an average of $6,100 a year and boost annual earnings by up to 20%.
Supporting passage of paid family and medical leave.
“Colorado’s success reflects the power of intentional, data-driven policies that prioritize families,” says Dr. Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. “These achievements are not just numbers — they represent real progress in ensuring that every child has a strong foundation for a lifetime of success.”
Bottom line: Finding ways to increase bonding time for parents and reduce financial stress can build the foundation for healthier children and communities.
2. Joe Waters on putting families first
Joe Waters, co-founder and CEO of Capita, an independent think tank, aspires to a future in which families can flourish in just, peaceful, prosperous communities on a healthy, safe, and clean planet. Starting Early spoke with Joe about his thoughts on how Americans can shift from conflict to a shared commitment to improve families’ lives. Following is a condensed version of the interview.
Do you think belief in the need to meet families’ essential needs transcends ideological and political divides?
President Kennedy said there are 2 notions we all hold — we’re all mortal and we all cherish our children’s futures. I believe we all share a commitment to the flourishing of our families and our children. However, we don’t necessarily share the sense of interdependence and solidarity that should accompany that. People’s belief in cherishing their children’s future doesn’t necessarily translate into concern for their neighbors’ children’s future.
We have a lot of work to do as Americans to rebuild the bonds of solidarity and connection that we not only have with one another but also with future generations.
What were some findings that surprised you in your research on stay-at-home parents?
One fifth of stay-at-home parents are men. Stay-at-home parents are fairly evenly divided among Republicans, Democrats, and independents. And many of the stay-at-home parents have a lot lower income than many of us would’ve assumed.
When we talk about stay-at-home parents, the first things that pop into people’s minds are the conservative religious family that has the traditional view of gender roles or the well-to-do family that can easily afford for mom to stay at home. But our senior fellows Ivana Greco and Elliot Haspel found in their research that’s not who most stay-at-home parents are. And they’re excluded from such things as the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit or getting Social Security credits for their labor. There’s a lot that we can do to change that.
When you see differences of opinion on how to support families, what are some things on which policymakers disagree?
One divide we haven’t looked at closely enough is class. In a 2021 survey, the conservative think tank American Compass found working class parents have different preferences than college-educated parents for the care arrangements they want for their children. Many college-educated Americans believe everybody wants good-quality, subsidized external child care so they can go to work and have a fulfilling career. However, a plurality of working class Americans said in the survey they want more cash support and the flexibility that allows parents to care for their children at home, have a friend or relative do so, or simply work less to spend more time with their families.
For example, for years, many have advocated for more money for child care. But if you’re working 3 jobs and those jobs are crappy, you don’t want more subsidy to be able to put your kid in child care so you can spend more time at those bad jobs. Families have said loud and clear, “We want better paying jobs or cash support so we have more time to spend with our kids; take care of our kids ourselves; or support a friend, grandparent, or other relative.”
What enabled you to work across the aisle in collaborating with such an ideologically diverse group to shape the Convergence initiative’s framework on family policy?
Let me start with a philosophical point: I don’t think of myself first and foremost in terms of political orientation. And I don’t think most Americans do.
It’s essential to lead with what matters most and, for most people, politics don’t matter as much as we sometimes think. Instead, we should lead with our other identities, our shared humanity, and the things we deeply cherish in common.
When you do that, it becomes much easier to work across the aisle. We discover that we’re complicated people. In some areas we might have a more conservative disposition and in others our disposition leans progressive or liberal. If you show up as who you are authentically and don’t put too much weight on political identity, you can have conversations with people who have differing points of view, find areas of common interest and commitment, and move forward on that basis.
Our country can feel very divided, but to put families and communities at the heart of our society, we have to return to what matters most to us all and build those bridges.
New York is implementing a law providing pregnant employees in private-sector companies with additional paid leave for prenatal care. And in 2021 New Jersey became the second state to provide universal home visiting for newborns. Do you see such policies as outliers or do you think other states will follow?
They’re not necessarily outliers, but states often need to find their own reasons to adopt similar measures. In North Carolina, we just expanded Medicaid. One reason was that rural hospitals were in danger of closing. Republican rural legislators who previously opposed expanding Medicaid got on board with the expansion to address the rural hospital issue. They had to develop their own reasoning.
Look at what’s happened with extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum: Every state across the country except Arkansas did it. That’s remarkable progress. We need not only frame and communicate policies that resonate with people across different perspectives but also give them the space to develop their own reasons for supporting them. Those reasons might not align perfectly with the original intent of the policy, but if they help achieve the goal, that’s what ultimately matters.
3. Future Caucus: Young policymakers driving change
Bridging the partisan divide: Nonprofit leader Layla Zaidane started the Future Caucus to help foster collaboration among Millennial and Gen Z state legislators and members of Congress. The goal is for Republicans and Democrats to come together to solve such pressing challenges as child care, paid leave, and education.
The impact:
Pennsylvania: Future Caucus members played a pivotal role in passing the Clean Slate Act, the first in the nation to automatically seal certain criminal records, enhancing opportunities for families.
Connecticut: Republican State Sen. Devin Carney is in the political minority in Connecticut’s legislature. But he sees that as a motivator to find common ground. Senator Carney is especially proud of his efforts to support families and children by co-sponsoring bills to increase access to nutrition programs for children and families, and provide much-needed support to early-childhood educators.
Kansas: Kansas State Rep. Rui Xu, a Democrat, turned to Montana State Sen. Ken Bogner, a Republican, for guidance on introducing a first-time homebuyer’s tax credit in Kansas, following Bogner’s success in his state.
What’s next: “We’re proving that generational collaboration can cut through gridlock and create lasting impact,” says Zaidane. “When we focus on what unites us — like the health and well-being of children — we unlock innovative policy solutions.” The Future Caucus is expanding its network to empower more young policymakers to champion initiatives that prioritize children and families, laying the groundwork for sustained progress nationwide.
🎧 Listen or watch Courageous Leadership For & With Families: Policy, Systems, and Structural Change in a New Era, an Aspen Ascend conversation featuring Layla Zaidane along with state representatives Greggor Ilagan (D-Hawaii) and Aaron Pilkington (R-Arkansas).
The roundup
📣Promoting dialogue: The “Care in America: Historical Perspectives, Future Visions” seminar, hosted by Capita, will take place March 11–13, 2025, in Chapel Hill, NC. It will explore the past and future of caregiving in the U.S. through interdisciplinary discussions led by Capita Senior Fellow Elliot Haspel and writer Elissa Strauss.
✏️Creating an online community for families: Haspel explores the dynamics of modern family life through The Family Frontier. The Substack publication provides insights, stories, and discussions on aspects of family relationships, parenting, and societal influences affecting families today.
📍Looking for a way forward: The Prenatal-to-Three Policy Roadmap offers state leaders research-backed guidance on the most effective investments to help children thrive. Policymakers can use the Roadmap to design such programs as paid family leave, home visiting initiatives, and expanded availability of quality child care — all proven to improve children’s and families’ health.
🔨Building a movement: Gary Community Ventures in Colorado seeks a Statewide Child Care Initiative Director to lead strategy, stakeholder engagement, and public outreach ahead of a 2026 ballot measure to secure dedicated funding for child care.