U.S. could get first paid family leave benefit under Trump budget proposal

Danielle Paquette & Damian Paletta, The Washington Post, May 18, 2017

"“It’s a fair starting point to the conversation,” said Abby McCloskey, former policy adviser to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, an early supporter for paid leave on the right. “Trump has the opportunity to push the Republican Party forward and create a new line of thinking.”"

 

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has a cure for the lackluster economy. It has nothing to do with interest rates.

Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post, May 8, 2017

"“The nature of work and families have changed dramatically over the last 50 years — especially for women — yet our labor policies have largely stayed the same,” McCloskey said. “The result is a big disconnect between what working parents need and what is provided.”"

 

Paid family leave: Frequently asked questions from a Republican perspective

Abby McCloskey, AEI-Brookings Joint Blog, February 13, 2017

"Over the last few years, I’ve had numerous conversations with political leaders about the opportunity to introduce a paid parental leave policy. Several of the same questions and concerns tend to pop up among conservatives, which I would like to address here, considering that the new administration and Congressional majority are Republican."

Child Care & Paid Leave Policies That Work For Working Parents

Abby McCloskey, Aparna Mathur, Angela Rachidi, National Review, January 9, 2017

"In our personal experiences and scholarly work, we see a policy environment that has missed significant opportunities to support families and foster economic growth. Conservatives in particular have been slow to realize the benefits of these policies, but 2017 offers the GOP a huge opportunity to change that."

Trump's 4% economic growth plan is crucial, but not enough

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News (Print), January 6, 2017

"Trump is wise to pursue economic growth, but he must not stop there. Improving the lives of forgotten Americans depends on going further than <his> 4 percent target. It will require thoughtful and targeted investment to improve economic opportunity for the people who need it most."

Examining what's ahead under GOP

Abby McCloskey, The Dallas Morning News, November 11, 2016

"In the coming days, President Trump has a crucial choice to make: Does he prioritize the red meat, populist reforms he promised on the campaign trail? Or does he prioritize reforms that have the highest potential of jumpstarting the economy and helping the "forgotten" Americans, whose imaginations he has so successfully captured and whose votes he has won?"

More Money Won't Ensure Better Results For Children, So Let's Prioritize Needed Reforms

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 31, 2016

"Last year, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ruled the foster care system in Texas was “broken.” Most of the resulting efforts have focused on state and local-based reforms. But this overlooks the crucial role played by the federal government.

The GOP Is In An Ideological Civil War

Reihan Salam, Slate, September 14, 2016

"On the surface—and again, the surface is all we have right now—Trump’s paid maternity leave proposal bears a close resemblance to a very good one advanced by domestic policy analyst Abby M. McCloskey in National Affairs last year. McCloskey, a conservative in good standing, has served as an adviser to the presidential campaigns of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Donald Trump’s mortal enemy, the famously low-energy former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Her proposed maternity-leave program is simple, cheap, pro-growth, and business-friendly." 

Everyone Agrees Americans Deserve A Raise, But Raising The Minimum Wage Is The Worse Way To Do It

Abby McCloskey, The Dallas Morning News, September 1, 2016

"In this polarized election year, there is something that unites Republicans and Democrats: the desire to give American workers a pay raise. The big question is how."

Two Charts That Show How Working Women Have Fared Under Obama

Abby McCloskey, Forbes, July 26, 2016

"Clinton's efforts to double down on the Affordable Care Act, raise the minimum wage, ignore occupational licensing and raise taxes on working women would implicitly encourage even more women to leave the work force."

Is Hillary Good For Women?

Abby McCloskey, National Review Online, July 21, 2016

"Hillary has rejected her husband’s New Democrat platform, which led to one of the most successful economic periods for American women. Free trade, fiscal responsibility, and welfare reform were followed by rising wages in the 1990s and by the highest labor-force participation rate among women ever reached in America: 60 percent in 1999. Instead, she has taken a page from President Obama’s playbook for economic growth, accepting as the new normal the weakest economic recovery since World War II. That means that Obama-era weakness would continue, which isn’t great for women (or men, for that matter)."