This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, June 13th, 2003.

I'm Caleb Brown.

What is the proper role of government in family policy?

At the Cato Institute's Benefactor summit held last month, Cato's

Alex Narastas sat down with Director of Opportunity and Family Studies at Cato,

Vanessa Brown Calder, about a Libertarian view of family policy.

So it's exciting, Vanessa.

It's been a little over a year since you rejoined us as Cato's Director of Opportunity

and Family Policy Studies. It's been a real pleasure

welcoming you back after your time on the Hill with the Joint Economic Committee.

What are you working on in your new role? Well thank you. Well I'm thrilled to be back first of all. on you're

mentioned both of all. Obviously opportunity and family policy you mentioned both of those things and those

things that is a broad umbrella of topics that fit underneath opportunity and family policy.

As a few examples to make it a little more concrete, recently I've been working on homelessness,

published a study on that. I worked with you on a

study on that. I worked with you on a study on O-Pare, the child care program, the O-Pare

child care program and reforms to that.

And I have also been working on a fertility and family policy paper, which should be published imminently.

But issues like child care, paid leave, you know, flexible work, housing affordability, these are all things that fit underneath the opportunity and

family policy umbrella.

So the opportunity part, I mean that makes perfect, complete sense from a libertarian perspective.

Really no questions about that.

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