SOC 363—Families and Public Policy

Public policies have profound influence on American families’ lives, yet often fail to accomplish what policymakers intend. For example, despite policies intended to meet the needs of working families, nearly one in five American children lives in poverty, most in households with working parents. Child poverty threatens their well-being and perpetuates social inequality. In this course we will take a dominantly sociological approach to understand the motivation, implementation and impact of family-oriented public policies, and consider a range of viewpoints that inform current policy debates.