AEI and the Institute for Family Studies recently hosted “Left behind: Why trends in family structure and parenting are setting some kids up to fail.”

How do family structure and parenting impact children’s future prospects, and how should policy engage America’s changing family dynamics?  Panelists discussed how education reform, vocational programs and family police can help children from poor families climb the economic ladder into the middle class.

Isabel V. Sawhill of the Brookings Institution gave the keynote presentation, Eleanor Barkhorn of The Atlantic served as moderator, and the panel was composed of Robert Lerman, Urban Institute and American University; Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Education Next; and W. Bradford Wilcox, AEI and University of Virginia.

—Education Next