First Focus

First Focus, in conjunction with Representative Jim McDermott and the Foundation for Child Development, hosted a Congressional briefing on “Tackling Child Poverty & Improving Child Well-Being: Lessons from Britain.” This briefing was the second in a series of three briefings hosted by First Focus on improving child well-being in America.

At the event panelists discussed how the UK carried out an ambitious campaign against child poverty over the last decade, making significant gains even up through the recession, and what lessons the US might learn from the experience – even in the face of limited budgets and the economic downturn. In addition, a new paper commissioned by First Focus and authored by Jane Waldfogel, entitled Tackling Child Poverty and Improving Child Well-Being: Lessons from Britain was released.

PANELISTS:

• Jane Waldfogel, PhD
Professor of Social Work and Public Affairs at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Visiting Professor at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics.
Download a copy of Jane Waldfogel's PowerPoint presentation.

• Nancy Cauthen, PhD
Independent Consultant, NKC Consulting, specializing in strategies to promote economic opportunity and reduce material hardship.
Download a copy of Nancy Cauthen's PowerPoint presentation.

• Isabel Sawhill, PhD
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and Co-Director of the Center on Children and Families.
Download a copy of Isabel Sawhill's PowerPoint presentation.

• Melissa Boteach
Manager, Half in Ten.
Download a copy of Melissa Boteach's PowerPoint presentation.

• Donald Hernandez, PhD
Senior Advisor, Foundation for Child Development and Professor, Department of Sociology Hunter College and the Graduate Center City University of New York.

Additional First Focus Resources Provided at the Event:

Report: Tackling Child Poverty & Improving Child Well-Being: Lessons from Britain

Fact Sheet: Key Findings from our report on Tackling Child Poverty

Fact Sheet: Familes of the Recession: Unemployed Parents & Their Children

Report: From Target to Legislation: Tackling Child Poverty in the United Kingdom—A Model for the United States?

First Focus would like to recognize the Foundation for Child Development’s gracious support which made this report possible.