E C O N O M I C R E P O R T O F T H E P R E S I D E N T

in the new labor market. The chapter discusses a number of recent initiatives.These include efforts to reduce class size and improve teacher quality, policiesthat have been shown to be effective at the elementary and the secondarylevel; initiatives, such as the Technology Literacy Challenge and the E-rate,that are attempting to provide students access to the technologies they willneed to master in order to succeed in today’s labor market; the HOPEScholarship program, a tax credit that will ideally make the first 2 years ofcollege as universal as high school; and the Workforce Investment Act, a newtraining initiative being phased in during 2000, which will help workersacquire the skills they need in the 21st-century economy.Supporting the Diverse American FamilyThe importance of skills and the shift from backwork to brainwork havechanged the employment prospects for women and, together with otherchanges, have altered the character of the American family. Chapter 5discusses how the decline in the importance of the traditional onebreadwinner,one-homemaker family and the increase in the prevalence oftwo-earner and single-parent families have changed the opportunities andchallenges that American families face at the beginning of the new century.In particular, the chapter looks at the balance between the rewards of workand the needs and rewards of family time. It notes three key trends that haveshaped the American family. One is the rise in female labor force participationover the century, as more opportunities have opened up for women towork and more women have taken advantage of those opportunities.Another is the changing patterns of family formation and dissolution, whichhave contributed to the growing prevalence of single-parent families. A thirdis the improvements in health and life expectancy that have added newresponsibilities to those that most families can expect to face, namely, care ofelderly parents in addition to preparation for their own retirement.The chapter then considers differences among family types with respect toincome and time available outside of work. It looks at Administrationpolicies that address the “money crunch” faced by families who feel theirresources are stretched to the limit. These policies include expansion of theEarned Income Tax Credit, increases in the minimum wage, welfare reform,the $500-per-child tax credit, and policies to help families invest in skills,such as the HOPE Scholarship program, already mentioned. TheAdministration has also pursued policies like those embodied in the Familyand Medical Leave Act to help families deal with the “time crunch” they facewhile trying to balance work and family time.Policies like the child tax credit and the Family and Medical Leave Acthave addressed important challenges facing the American family. But theAdministration recognizes that it will be a continuing challenge to ensure44 | Economic Report of the President