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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On Jan. 14, Princeton University and the Brookings Institution hosted an event highlighting the latest release of their soon-to-sunset journal , entitled . This edition covers topics such as maternal and environmental influences on perinatal development, instability from birth to age 3, family income and more.

In light of the after over 17 years, the editorial team and other contributors shared their reflections, an overview of the journal and its . Isabel Sawhill, senior fellow at Brookings, moderated the discussion among the following panelists.

• Robert Doar, president and Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
• Chris Wimer, co-director of the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at The Columbia School of Social Work
• Darrick Hamilton, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and founding director of the Institute on Race and Political Economy at The New School
• Diane Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University
• Tim Smeeding, Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Below are our top three takeaways from the presentation.

1.聽 Paid maternity and family leave matter. Journal editor Anna Aizer said, 鈥淥ver half of U.S. mothers with infants are employed, and yet we lack a national paid maternity leave policy.鈥� The U.S. is an outlier compared to European countries, though eight states have developed maternity leave policies.

鈥淧aid maternity leave results in fewer premature births, increased on-time vaccination and reduced diagnoses of ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] among school-aged children,鈥� Aizer said, 鈥淭he lack of access to paid leave to care for family members in an emergency this past year has harmed both family outcomes and economic recovery efforts.鈥�

2. Income support is essential. For families with little savings and no income source other than employment, a loss of a job or work hours can trigger loss of child care, housing and health insurance. The absence of money can potentially compromise important child development processes and outcomes. Wimer said, 鈥淔rom the family stress perspective, it can compromise parent mental health, increase stress and increase harsh parenting.鈥�

proposes to improve stability and support young children through the crisis and beyond. Smeeding explained, 鈥淏oth the Future policy brief and The National Academy Report push for more subsidized child care, extending the child tax credit to all families to be paid monthly and a higher earned income tax credit (EITC).鈥� Hamilton said, 鈥淚f we want to, we could reduce the work requirement of EITC and literally eliminate poverty and expand the EITC phaseout all the way up to middle income, so as to lift more families up to middle class.

3. Stability promotes healthy development. Aizer said, 鈥淧overty is the main determinant of instability in a young child鈥檚 life.鈥� Before the pandemic, 17% of young children were living in poverty.

After acknowledging the pandemic and the emergency situation that we must respond to, Doar said, 鈥淚 do have some concern of taking this situation and using it to develop big, significant, long-term changes that we will live with after we鈥檙e passed the pandemic.鈥� He added, 鈥淚鈥檓 not comfortable with a big increase in the tax credit that isn鈥檛 explicitly attached to work,鈥� citing concerns of long-term diminishing returns for families and the labor force. 鈥淚 want to be in a place where we鈥檙e reducing child poverty, and I think that requires a combination of employment and assistance.鈥�

While parents are working, it is key that they have access to high-quality child care. The pandemic has been devastating to the whole industry鈥檚 infrastructure. While diagnosing the damage and advocating for rebuilding, Schanzenbach said, 鈥淜eeping the role of caregiving along with economic resources for young children front and center is key.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.