Overview

The status quo doesn’t work for millions of Americans, and the consequences of millions of failures are expensive for everyone else. There has to be a better, fairer, and more cost-effective way of helping people achieve success. That is what this book is all about. The United States now spends trillions of dollars on chronic disease, incarceration, educational failures, and lost productivity—among the many problems of the current system. Instead, this book argues for better, more targeted spending that could guarantee an opportunity-rich childhood for all. The “guardrails” of the title are the aspects of a well-functioning neighborhood that help children become thriving adults: good schools, well-funded libraries, safe streets and public spaces, quality health care, churches and other spiritual homes, and transportation and other public services. “Airbags” are timely interventions at the individual level that help avert lasting damage from bad events. Examples include drug treatment or psychological counseling for troubled young people. The United States can afford both better guardrails and airbags for kids to help them become healthy and productive adults who will be effective parents for the next generation. This book advocates a smarter social safety net that will catch kids heading in the wrong direction before they are harmed, and society will pay for those upstream investments and reap the benefits of healthier and more productive generations to come.

Full Product Details

9780815739630

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Reviews

"David Erickson is not the first author to question why, in a nation as wealthy as ours, so many have so little. But The Fifth Freedom's unique marriage of insights from history, health policy, and community development finance show in bold and concrete terms how we can guarantee the right to an ""open future"" for all children. Through case studies, compelling metaphors, and clear language, Erickson sows the seeds for a revolution in how America constructs its social safety net. --Alan Berube, Interim Vice President and Director, Brookings Metro David Erickson's new book is a must-read for anyone interested in health and social welfare. He takes square aim at the 'know-do' gap that has plagued efforts to improve our social safety net. Drawing upon his decades of experience, the book offers a lucid diagnosis of the problem as well as practical solutions that would advance health and social equity for millions of people. --Dave A. Chokshi, MD, 43rd Health Commissioner of New York City David Erickson's provocative new book leads off with a bold premise: what if, as a society, we decided to truly invest in children's health and well-being, ensuring that no child grows up in poverty? Drawing on a rich mix of history, social theory, evidence-based research, and promising strategies from the field, this book builds a compelling case that this premise is achievable if we're willing to re-think our existing approaches to health and social policy. --Carolina Reid, Terner Chair, City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley Whether serving as a family physician for patients experiencing homelessness, as Chicago's public health commissioner deploying policies to improve health, or as Kaiser Permanente's Chief Health Officer implementing upstream interventions to optimize conditions for health, I know just how important reliable and sustainable investments are to the health of our communities. In The Fifth Freedom, Erickson deftly connects the dots between how strategic investment decisions - whether from private industry, the nation's health care system, or from all levels of government--can create the conditions for health and equity we all need to truly thrive. --Bechara Choucir, Chief Community Health Officer, Kaiser Permanente With empathy, precision, and deeply informed historical analysis, David Erickson issues a clarion call for America to fundamentally rethink how it serves its citizens and enables the next generation to flourish. The Fifth Freedom shows that it is possible--and necessary--to think big, to spend well, and restore hope and economic security to all people and places. An essential read for policymakers and citizens alike. --Margaret O'Mara, author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America"

"David Erickson is not the first author to question why, in a nation as wealthy as ours, so many have so little. But The Fifth Freedom's unique marriage of insights from history, health policy, and community development finance show in bold and concrete terms how we can guarantee the right to an ""open future"" for all children. Through case studies, compelling metaphors, and clear language, Erickson sows the seeds for a revolution in how America constructs its social safety net. David Erickson's new book is a must-read for anyone interested in health and social welfare. He takes square aim at the 'know-do' gap that has plagued efforts to improve our social safety net. Drawing upon his decades of experience, the book offers a lucid diagnosis of the problem as well as practical solutions that would advance health and social equity for millions of people. David Erickson's provocative new book leads off with a bold premise: what if, as a society, we decided to truly invest in children's health and well-being, ensuring that no child grows up in poverty? Drawing on a rich mix of history, social theory, evidence-based research, and promising strategies from the field, this book builds a compelling case that this premise is achievable if we're willing to re-think our existing approaches to health and social policy. Whether serving as a family physician for patients experiencing homelessness, as Chicago's public health commissioner deploying policies to improve health, or as Kaiser Permanente's Chief Health Officer implementing upstream interventions to optimize conditions for health, I know just how important reliable and sustainable investments are to the health of our communities. In The Fifth Freedom, Erickson deftly connects the dots between how strategic investment decisions - whether from private industry, the nation's health care system, or from all levels of government--can create the conditions for health and equity we all need to truly thrive. With empathy, precision, and deeply informed historical analysis, David Erickson issues a clarion call for America to fundamentally rethink how it serves its citizens and enables the next generation to flourish. The Fifth Freedom shows that it is possible--and necessary--to think big, to spend well, and restore hope and economic security to all people and places. An essential read for policymakers and citizens alike."

Author Information

David Erickson is senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He has convened thousands of experts to be speakers at conferences and authors in a series of books on how community development finance can work with other social investors to create more opportunities in low-income communities. Key to this strategy is to create new alliances with sectors that previously did not work with anti-poverty activists: health, climate adaptation, household financial wellbeing, art and artists, faith communities, and others. Throughout, he has focused on how quasi-markets can be tools to create better social outcomes—the subject of his first book, Housing Policy Revolution: Networks and Neighborhoods. Erickson has a PhD in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Dartmouth College.

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