How Do We Move Women and Children Toward Opportunity?

A major focus of the campaigns and last night's debate has been on strengthening the middle-class in America. One issue of equal importance, but that is often not given as much attention, is how to move low-income families out of poverty. More specifically, there is not much conversation about how to help those most vulnerable: single mothers and children. Almost three-fourths of single-mother families with children are low-income.

At the Institute our Ascend Program is focused on elevating two-generation strategies that move parents, especially women, and their children beyond poverty toward educational success and economic security. Ascend does this by sparking a new conversation around low-income families; building a network of leaders through the Ascend Fellowship and elevating two-generation approaches with a new website for the field.

Next week Ascend will convene the inaugural Aspen ThinkXChange to discuss and debate opportunities, challenges, and solutions for moving parents, especially women, and their children beyond poverty toward educational success and economic security. Be sure to check back here for videos and photos from those conversations.