|
Andrew Yang on Families & Children
Democratic Presidential Challenger & Tech CEO
|
|
|
Disentangle economic value and human value
We have allowed the market to tell us what we are l worth. What is the market value my wife, Evelyn had, or stay at home parents around the country? Zero. Caregivers taking care of ailing loved ones? Zero. Volunteers and activists in our communities
trying to do something positive? Zero. The mission in this campaign has to be for us to disentangle economic value and human value, say they are not the same things and make this case that we each have intrinsic value as human beings.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
, Feb 7, 2020
More therapists in schools; kids very anxious these days
We need to invest in therapists at the high school level. The mental health crisis we're seeing among young people spiked when we got smart phones and social media apps.
Today, if you're 12, you close the door, you feel like your classmates are still in the room with you because you can take out your phone and see what they're talking about every moment.
We have to stop pretending that there's normal and then there are people in this category of special needs and autistic because it's the new normal. If you intervene with the right resources at the right stage
of development of many of these children, you can actually make a world of difference. And this is the kind of thing where this investment can yield dividends for decades. We should making those investments in our kids right now.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
, Feb 5, 2020
Money and men are tied together: we are a misogynist society
Q: Pres. Obama said this week when asked who should be running countries that if women were in charge, you'd see a significant improvement on just about everything. He also said, "If you look at the world and look at the problems, it's usually old men,
not getting out of the way." How do you respond to what the former president has said?Yang: Our country is deeply misogynist and most all of us know that. Money and men are tied together. The fact is, strong societies would elect more female leaders.
Strong men treat women well for the same reasons. I'm on the record saying that you need both strong men and female leaders in government because the fact is if you get too many men alone and leave us alone for a while, we kind of become morons.
The fact is we operate in a fundamentally anti-woman marketplace, and that includes the marketplace for politicians. [With] democracy dollars, many, many more women who would run for office because they don't have to go shake the money tree.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
, Dec 19, 2019
New normal is families with special needs or autism
Q: Are there specific steps that you would take to help people with significant disabilities become more integrated into the workforce and into their local communities?Yang: I have a son with special needs, and to me, special needs is the new normal
in this country. The fact is right now we have to do more. Special needs children are going to become special needs adults in many cases. And here's the challenge. We go to employers and say, "Hey, this special needs person can be a contributor in your
Workplace," [but even if not], we have to stop confusing economic value in human value. We have to be able to say to our kids that you have intrinsic value because you are an American and you are a human being. A freedom dividend of $1,000 a
month, in everyone's hands, is going to help families and take this burden off of the communities and off of the schools who do not have the resources to support kids like my son and make it a federal priority, not a local one.
Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate
, Dec 19, 2019
Only U.S. and Papua New Guinea don't have paid family leave
Q: On childcare and paid family leave: Here in Georgia, the average price of infant daycare is $8,500 per child per year. What would you do to ease that financial burden?YANG: There are only two countries in the world that don't have paid family
leave for new moms, the U.S. and Papua New Guinea. That is the entire list. We need to get off this list as soon as possible. I would pass paid family leave as one of the first things we do. I have two kids myself who are 4 and 7, one of whom is
autistic and has special needs, and it's breaking families' backs. We need to start supporting our kids and families from the beginning, because by the time they're showing up to pre-K and kindergarten, in many cases, they're already years behind. So we
need to have a freedom dividend in place from day one, $1,000 a month for every American adult. We should not be pushing everyone to leave the home and go to the workforce. In many cases, it would be better if the parent stays home with the child.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
, Nov 20, 2019
Our kids are not alright; their future is darker than our
I'm here with my wife tonight; we have two young boys. If you're a parent, you've had this thought: Our kids are not all right. They're not all right because we're leaving them a future that is far darker than the lives that we have led as their parents.
We are going through the greatest economic transformation in our country's history, and it is pushing more and more of our people to the side. We talk as if Donald Trump is the cause of all of our problems. He is not. He is a symptom.
And we need to cure the disease.
I'm running for president because, like many of you here in this room tonight, I'm a parent and a patriot and I have seen the future that we're leaving for our kids, and it is not something I'm willing to accept.
If
you want to join us in rewriting the rules of the 21st century economy, go to yang2020.com and make it so that we can look our kids in the eyes and say to them, and believe it: Your country loves you, your country values you, and you will be all right.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
, Nov 20, 2019
Enable families to solve problems with income subsidies
Everything revolves around the dollar-our schools, hospitals, media, government. We have to see ourselves as the shareholders of this democracy rather than inputs into a machine. When you donate money to a presidential campaign, the politician spends
it on ads and consultants. It's time to trust ourselves more. My campaign will give a dividend of $1,000 a month for a year to 10 American families. If you believe that you can solve your own problems better than any politician, go to yang2020.com.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
6 to 9 months paid parental leave
Andrew Yang on Paid Leave: Support paid leave for new parents only. No candidates have similar views. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang calls for at least nine months of paid parental leave per couple and at least six months for a single parent.
While he doesn't explicitly propose paid sick leave, his platform includes a mandatory vacation policy to allow workers to take time away from their jobs.
Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
, Jul 17, 2019
Boys raised in one-parent households suffer more than girls
Lower rates of marriage mean that the proportion of children raised by a single parent is rising dramatically; though fertility is declining, people don't stop having children just because they don't get married. The share of children born to
unmarried mothers more than doubled between 1980 and 2015, from 18 to 40 percent. Single mothers outnumber fathers more than four to one. Boys raised in single-parent households seem to suffer more than girls.
A study showed that growing up with stably married parents makes one more likely to succeed at school, but that an absent father had a bigger impact on boys.
Data bears this out--outcomes for children raised in single parent households are significantly more adverse in every dimension: education, income, rate of marriage, rate of divorce, health, and so on, even controlling for income of the parent.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.127-30
, Apr 2, 2019
Raising children has been hardest experience of our lives
Having and raising children has been the hardest experience of our lives for both my wife and me. I was cocky going into it;
I thought to myself, "People have had children since the dawn of time. How hard can it be?"
Now, I try to caution new parents that whatever they go through it's perfectly normal and to expect to have their lives changed and their spirits having stretched.
Having children has tested my wife and me as individuals and as a marriage. Both of us agree that we have no idea how any single mom or dad can make it happen unless they have incredibly supportive family members around.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.128-29
, Apr 2, 2019
Boys raised in one-parent households suffer more than girls
Lower rates of marriage mean that the proportion of children raised by a single parent is rising dramatically; though fertility is declining, people don't stop having children just because they don't get married. The share of children born to unmarried
mothers more than doubled between 1980 and 2015, from 18 to 40 percent. Single mothers outnumber fathers more than four to one. Boys raised in single-parent households seem to suffer more than girls.
A study showed that growing up with stably married parents makes one more likely to succeed at school, but that an absent father had a bigger impact on boys.
Data bears this out--outcomes for children raised in single parent households are significantly more adverse in every dimension: education, income, rate of marriage, rate of divorce, health, and so on, even controlling for income of the parent.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.127-9
, Apr 2, 2019
Having children tests 2 parents; single parents even harder
Outcomes for children raised in single parent households are significantly more adverse in every dimension: education, income, rate of marriage, rate of divorce, health, and so on, even controlling for income of the parent.
I understand: having and raising children has been the hardest experience of our lives for both my wife and me. I was cocky going into it; I thought to myself, "People have had children since the dawn of time. How hard can it be?"
Now, I try to caution new parents that whatever they go through it's perfectly normal and to expect to have their lives changed and their spirits having stretched. Having children has tested my wife and me as individuals and as a marriage.
Both of us agree that we have no idea how any single mom or dad can make it happen unless they have incredibly supportive family members around.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.129-30
, Apr 2, 2019
Who you love and how you love are up to you
Sexual orientation and gender identity should be protected classes under the law, receiving all the federal protections afforded under the Constitution and law. Who you love and how you love are up to you. The law should recognize and protect
lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans individuals. I've always been pro-gay marriage; why should straight people have all of the fun? People are people and all love is beautiful. Problems to be solved: - Too many Americans who identify as
LGBTQ are discriminated against based on who they are.
As President, I will...- Promote any legislation extending protected status to individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Increase funding for programs
directed at educating the public on LGBT+ issues
- Increase funding for programs meant to help LGBTQ individuals who are facing discrimination because of their identity
- Appoint LGBT individuals to senior posts in my administration
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
, Mar 29, 2019
Include family counseling in federal healthcare plans
Marriage rates have plummeted across the board in America. And if you do get married, it's tough to stay together through all of the stresses that accompany marriage and particularly child-rearing.
Any couple that stays together is a win for the next generation. We should support families who want to stay together in any way we can.
As President, I will...- Include family counseling in any healthcare plan offered through the federal government
-
Mandate the inclusion of family counseling services in any plan sold through the ACA marketplaces
- Subsidize marriage counseling provided by any credentialed provider through the tax code
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
, Mar 29, 2019
All other advanced countries have paid family leave policy
It's embarrassing and unconscionable that in the most advanced country in the world we don't account for something as basic as needing to spend time with your child when he or she is born. This drives mothers out of the workforce prematurely and impedes
healthy development of infants, which is something we all pay for. We need to catch up to the civilized world and mandate paid family leave.Problems to be solved: - America's lack of a paid family leave policy results in negative
impacts on health, women's employment rate, and family cohesion
- A lack of a paid family leave policy forces many single parents--especially mothers--into poverty
As President, I will...- Propose and fight for a paid
family leave policy, requiring employers to offer at least 9 months of paid family leave, distributed between parents however they see fit;
- or 6 months of paid leave for a single parent
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
, Mar 29, 2019
Increase funding for LGBTQ issues and education
On Andrew Yang's campaign website, he lays out his plan to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community. To do so, his website promises that he will support legislation that protects the
LGBTQ community, he will increase funding for LGBTQ issues and education, and he will appoint people who identify as LGBTQ to senior positions in his administration.
"Who you love and how you love are up to you," his websites reads. "The law should recognize and protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans individuals.
I've always been pro-gay marriage; why should straight people have all of the fun? People are people and all love is beautiful."
Source: Frank Olito, Insider.com, on 2019 Democratic primary
, Mar 26, 2019
Page last updated: Apr 29, 2021