The Roosevelt Institution
The Challenge: fight the causes of bankruptcy in America.
Important
Progressive: accomplishing this challenge will contribute directly and specifically to the progressive values embodied by Roosevelt's Statement of PrinciplesMeaningful: our contribution to this challenge will produce a real change in the lives of our fellow human beings. One can imagine a world in which the challenge is solved, and such a world is better than the one we live in today.
Relevant: the challenge is relevant to the social contract project that Roosevelt has embarked upon
A half-million American families are affected by bankruptcy every year, more than twice what it was a decade ago. Increased economic risks are the primary factor: fewer people have health insurance, for example, and half of bankruptcies are caused by health crises. An increasing number of elderly people are also filing for bankruptcy because of reduced pension security. And couples with families are much more likely to face bankruptcy, indicating that the problem affects the futures of many American children.
These bankruptcy statistics are presumably the tip of the iceberg -- far more families coped with financial distress by borrowing from friends, moving in with extended family, taking a second job, or pulling family members out of school.
By addressing the root causes of financial emergencies and helping families to cope with the effects of bankruptcy, we can help more people stay in the middle class and make things better for working families in America.
Innovative
We're looking for policy challenges where innovation is needed: where there isn't already a clear solution or best practices, but solutions can be developed creatively. Our goal is to develop options, not to lobby or advocate for a solution that is already known or to debate among several yes or no outcomes or pre-defined policy choices. Other organizations do the important work of debating and lobbying, that's just not our place in the process.Typically if you're looking at a standard policy debate you can apply what's known as the "Roosevelt Reframe" to develop new strategies to advance shared values. So rather than "should we engage in race-based affirmative action in college admissions" to which the potential answers are "yes" and "no", you can ask "how do we make our colleges more diverse", a goal we hope is shared by those on both sides of that debate.
In the last decades, finance and financial infrastructure have become an increasingly important part of anti-poverty initiatives, relative to economic stimulus, transfer payments, and government assistance. Asset ownership, access to credit, and the ability to ride out financial risks allow families to stand on their own two feet and achieve the American dream -- harnessing resources much more powerful and pervasive than the government.
With new financial institutions, financial risks have increased also. Payday loans, predatory mortgage lending and subprime loans, and credit card debt have become increasing burdens for the American family, and government is not yet well-suited to address these issues -- and often, in part because of the lobbying power of these organizations, is unwilling.
Feasible
Approachable: given the level of research and discourse already available and given who else is working on the issue, college students with a range of experience levels and with varied types of expertise can contribute meaningfully to the debate and are likely to think of good ideas. We don't want something so technical only engineering majors can contribute to it, or something that is already dominated by another think tank or advocacy organization.Practical: the challenge is stated as a specific, measurable, and achievable goal, incremental progress toward which could be made by chipping away at the problem at various levels of government. The statement is not too broad or too narrow. One good way to make sure something is a good policy challenge rather than a debate or advocacy problem is to think of what sorts of innovative ideas might be produced for the 25 ideas publication series on that topic.
Ideas would be based on the leading causes of bankruptcy and might include:
Access to credit
- subprime lending regulation
- credit card debt regulation
Health insurance
- regulation of health insurance to cover serious illness
- second chance last-resort health insurance by government
- mandatory health insurance or other coverage increase programs
Asset ownership
- homeownership policies
- business creation subsidies
Income security
- unemployment insurance
- temporary jobs programs
Separation security
- help drafting or changes in default cohabitation agreements
Children in financial crisis
- protecting college savings in financial crisis
Bankruptcy reform
- ways to make it easier for individuals to rebuild
Great and important idea, but concerned it is too similar to "working families"
Working at a financial institution, it's not just "working families" that struggle with debt and other financial issues. Many middle and upper class families struggle with debt as well. Credit card debt is a major issue, along with gambling, in my experience.