Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg Opinion, February 9, 2026

“Let me start by saying that I’m heartened by the right’s recent attention to family policy. I really am. I started writing about paid parental leave and child care more than a decade ago while at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. At the time it was the kind of thing that got you labeled as a RINO or relegated to the policy fringes while the big boys worked on tax and reg policy. Family policy has always deserved a seat at the adult table. It’s good to see the GOP is pulling up some chairs.

And we need some new thinking in this area. It’s not like progressives have had a family policy feast going. They have struggled to pass federal reforms. And some of the proposals they have enacted have had wide-ranging unintended consequences; for example, achievement gaps that have grown for four-year-olds — not closed — following New York City’s introduction of a universal preschool program.

But addressing the problems families face will require more and different approaches than what’s on offer in the Heritage report. Or on offer from the GOP more broadly, for that matter. The report highlights enormous challenges facing families, but the rhetoric and policies don’t ladder up to solutions.’