Education and Skill Development

This article was originally published on Fee.org Over the last decade, higher education in America has faced an intense amount of scrutiny. Rising costs and increasing levels of student loan debt, coupled with falling academic rigor, have prompted some tough questions...

Last week, the Joint Economic Committee held a hearing in which experts discussed the state of the American Family, what has been going well, where improvements could be made, and generally how families factors into the well-being of children.

Whether perceived or real, Americans increasingly reflect a diminished sense of individual agency. And as Americans lose their sense of agency, the dynamic spirit that fueled an unprecedented level of economic prosperity risks being lost.

South Carolina and Connecticut are among two of the latest states that might soon allow kids more opportunities to step out on their own for some time at the park or a walk to school. Following the example of Utah, Lawmakers in South Carolina and Connecticut are two of the latest states to consider changes in state law to protect parents’ ability to allow their children a bit more independence, without worrying that such allowances will be seen as criminally “neglectful” by local authorities.

In a blog post for America’s Future Foundation, Director of Programs Ben Wilterdink explains that the way to keep up with our increasingly service-based economy is to gain the soft skills — also known as non-cognitive skills — that more and more employers seek.