The role of families in human flourishing: My long-read Q&A with James Heckman

On childcare: "And good public policy would join them and would nourish both the family and these programs, forming a bond between these programs and the mother, the father, the family."

 

"I think we do want to harvest the powerful force of love and attachment for the child. That is such a powerful force. ...My thinking about the form of that social insurance might be for it to help supplement the home life and to make the home life more effective for the child."

 

"that it’s encouragement, building attachment and linkage between programs and parents; and that some parents literally don’t know how to be a good parent... Or the parents might need a boost, you know, learning parenting."

 

"This was studied here in the housing projects in Chicago. You had women who were close to illiterate — low levels of education, not very skilled — whose children came out in a very healthy, functioning way. And they talk about the home life that was created for them by their parents, usually the mother. So it’s not always a question of money. But it is a question of parenting — engagement with the child, attachment, interaction, and the like. I think that’s what’s missing from the discussion."

 

~​Katharine B. Stevens with James Heckman