Creating a research and public policy agenda for work, family, and community

In the last decades, there has been considerable effort from researchers an d public policymakers to set an agenda for the United States on work, famil y, and community issues. There has been movement in both research and publi c policy to connect work and family perspectives, and, more recently, commu nity contexts have been recognized as well. However, current research and p ublic policy models have been limited by a number of deficiencies that prev ent them from developing and implementing an agenda that has the capacity t o move our nation forward to meet the challenges that lie ahead. In additio n, there is little direct connection between the findings from current rese arch and the content of new public policies. This article will review exist ing work, family, and community research and public policy in terms of prev ailing strengths and deficiencies and then set forth possibilities for a fu ture agenda.