Patrick T. Brown

Fellow

Patrick T. Brown is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where his work with the Life and Family Initiative focuses on developing a robust pro-family economic agenda and supporting families as the cornerstone of a healthy and flourishing society.

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Patrick T. Brown is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where his work focuses on developing a robust pro-family economic agenda and supporting families as the cornerstone of a healthy and flourishing society.

His writing has been published in The New York Times, National Review, Politico, The Washington Post, and USA Today, and he has spoken on college campuses and Capitol Hill on topics from welfare reform to child care and education policy.

He has published reports on paid leave and family policy with the Institute for Family Studies, and edited an essay series featuring working-class voices for American Compass. He is an advisory board member of Humanity Forward and the Center on Child and Family Policy, and a contributing editor to Public Discourse.

Prior to joining EPPC, Patrick served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee (JEC). There, he helped lead research about how to make it more affordable to raise a family and more effectively invest in youth and young adults. He also previously worked a government relations staffer for Catholic Charities USA.

Patrick graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in political science and economics. He also holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He and his wife Jessica have three young children and live in Columbia, S.C.

 

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As the pandemic has thrust into sharp relief, families across America rely on child care to meet the demands of both the workplace and the home front. A single mom trying to make rent; newly-married young professionals just starting a family; two working-class parents needing to cover a couple extra hours while dealing with unpredictable scheduling — all at some point depend on a child care arrangement of some kind. Expanding the array of options available to American families, whether it be care by a relative or parent, or a daycare or child care center, should be a prime focus of public policy. This report outlines options for improving child care availability and affordability in light of the immense pluralism of American family life. At a high-level, a commitment to “child care pluralism” means policymakers should seek to:
  • Dedicate funding to non-profit child care providers through grants, loans, and technical assistance, prioritizing care options embedded in a community context and meeting parents’ stated desires;
  • Resist the temptation to pile quality-improvement mandates that bear an ambiguous relationship to long-term outcomes onto federal grants, and;
  • Improve the functioning of the market for child care by creating incentives to increase supply, develop innovative funding models, and make careers in the sector more appealing.
Policymakers who recognize the importance of intermediary institutions should seek to empower those organizations to be necessary and vital sources of caregiving at the community level. Reforming our child care infrastructure to make a plurality of care options more available and affordable is the most compelling path forward. Read the full report here (PDF).
Patrick T. Brown is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where his work focuses on developing a robust pro-family economic agenda. Prior to joining EPPC, Brown served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee (JEC).