The more challenging part is persuading some conservatives that government policy ought to intentionally subsidize families with children.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE N ews that Senators Michael Bennet, a Democrat, and Mitt Romney are advancing a bipartisan proposal for a refundable child tax credit is a major development in the evolution of a nascent conservative consensus in favor of a universal child benefit.

Niskanen Center scholar Samuel Hammond and Endicott College professor Josh McCabe already have undertaken to understand how the proposal would function relative to the status quo, who would benefit, and the potential effects on child poverty, labor-force participation, and so on. Their recent analysis decidedly points in its favor.

Hammond and McCabe are among a group of reform-oriented conservatives who have been advancing …