In the longest and most intense campaign exchange on these issues to date, the vice presidential candidates appeared to find some agreement during Tuesday night’s debate on child care and paid family leave.
In California and across the country, these issues are critical to improving the quality of life for families who struggle to find time to care for a newborn or a sick loved one, or to find affordable child care. Despite California’s significant investments in these areas, solutions still fail to meet the needs of many parents.
Republicans in Congress oppose President Biden’s ambitious 2021 plan to create an affordable child care system and a universal paid family leave benefit. Yet Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) – former President Trump’s running mate – appeared to offer some support for both issues during the debate, expressing a more liberal stance than he has in recent appearances.
“I think there’s a bipartisan solution here because so many of us care about this issue,” Vance said in response to a question from CBS News’ Margaret Brennan about the national paid leave program. As far as the child-care crisis is concerned, Vance agreed with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz — Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate — that the government needs to spend more money.
“We have to inspire more people to provide child care options for American families because it’s so expensive right now because you have so few people providing this much-needed service,” she said.
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But this diagnosis of the child-care market as a simple supply-side problem contradicts the way child-care experts see it.
“This exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of the child-care problem because it is a broken market,” said Katherine Anne Edwards, a labor economist and policy consultant who studies the child-care market.
Meanwhile, Vance’s solution — that the problem could be solved by giving families more choices about who can care for their children — is something the government is already doing. And under the current system, low-income families can use government-provided subsidies to pay for the child care of their choice, including care provided by a faith-based provider and a relative or friend.
Why is child care so expensive in America?
Child care is often described as “Broken Market” For good reason: Child care workers are some of the lowest-paid workers in the economy, averaging $13.22 an hour, yet despite such low wages, the cost of care remains too high for families.
in California, For example, placing an infant in a private child-care center cost an average of $19,547 per year in 2021, according to the nonprofit. Child care consciousThis is 15% of the average income for a married couple in the state, and 47.6% of the average income for a single parent.
There is a shortage of care in many places, including Los Angeles. But Vance’s suggestion of increasing supply might help more families get care, but it is unlikely to significantly reduce costs.
This is because the biggest problem is that the cost of child care exceeds what families can afford. There are not many opportunities to cut costs, because the work of child care workers cannot be automated and employers cannot pay them less. Workers are already fleeing this profession in search of higher wages in retail or fast food.
Meanwhile, Edwards says, there is no line of people waiting for a child-care center to open, because it is not a profitable business.
Walz was not asked directly about child care, but in a question about paid family leave she addressed it in somewhat vague terms, saying that child care workers need more pay. is, and families need more support to pay for care.
“You can’t expect the most important people in our lives to take care of our children or to make at least some money for our parents,” he said. “And we have to make it easier for people to get into that business and then make sure that people are able to pay for it.”
In the Democratic plan, that would mean the federal government would subsidize care for more families.
Moving the child-care system from a “profit model” to a “reimbursement model,” in which the government pays child-care workers for the costs of their care, “is the only solution for child care,” Edwards said. “Labor is not going to be cheaper, care is not going to be cheaper, and more people are not going to enter the market.”
What can families spend their child care assistance on?
The government already provides subsidies to low-income families to help cover the costs of child care; Families can also participate in free government-funded programs, including Head Start and state preschool. Seventeen percent of children are under 5 years of age California is served by government-subsidized child-care programs.
The federal government helps fund subsidies for families earning a maximum of 85% of their state’s median income — $104,544 for a family of four in California — through the Child Care and Development Block Grant, though many states make it much lower. Is kept.
During the debate, Vance said that these subsidies are merely “one type of child-care model.” Let’s say you want your church, perhaps, to help you with child care. You may live in a rural or urban area, and you may want to work with families in your neighborhood to find child care in a way that makes the most sense. You don’t get access to any of these federal funds.”
This is wrong.
The government allows subsidies from the block grant program – in the form of vouchers – for families to use for a variety of options – including both church and care provided by a family member, friend or neighbor.
The block grant was created in 1990 by Republican President George H.W. Bush as a “pro-choice federal program,” said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley professor of education and public policy. “The idea that the government discourages the use of grandmothers is simply wrong.”
The problem is that the vouchers available are not enough to meet the need. Of the approximately 6.3 million children age 5 and younger in the U.S. whose families are eligible for these subsidies, Less than 840,000 get itOr about 13%. There are often long lists of families waiting for vouchers to become available, including in California.
Meanwhile, middle-class families typically have to pay sticker prices.
What do Democrats propose as a solution to child care?
During an interview with members of the National Association in September. Among Black journalists, Harris announces a child-care plan for working families Don’t pay more than 7% of their income for the care of children.
The idea of a 7% cap is not new. It was proposed to Biden in 2021 bill betterWhich Congress failed to pass.
The plan would have established a universal preschool program and limited family child care spending to 7% of income for anyone earning up to 250% of the state median income. In California, that’s more than $277,000 for a family of four. Higher-earning families will continue to pay the full price. Estimated cost of overhaul would be $380 billion over six years,
Meanwhile, a different proposal has been mentioned 2024 democratic party platform Instead, the cost to families will be set at $10 per day.
What do Republicans propose as a solution to child care?
Trump has not yet offered details for reforming the child-care system, and the GOP campaign platform did not mention the issue.
“Child care is child care, it’s something you have to do in this country. You have to have it,” Trump told business leaders At the Economic Club of New York. He said his proposed tax on imports from foreign countries at high levels would “take care” of such problems.
Vance supported the plan during the vice presidential debate. “I think what President Trump is saying is that when we bring in this additional revenue along with higher economic growth, we will be able to provide paid family leave, child care options that are viable for many American families. And are practical.
Why isn’t there national paid family leave in the US?
The United States is one of the few countries that does not guarantee paid leave at a national level. Only 13 states, including Washington, DC and California, have passed such legislation. But according to Laura Narefsky, senior counsel for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, the issue has bipartisan support from voters.
“This is not a polarizing issue for the American people, because everyone at some point has to give or provide care,” Narefsky said.
Walz, who called paid family leave a “day one” issue in the debate, cited a program signed into law in Minnesota that will provide up to 20 weeks a year for family and medical leave. The program, which will take effect in 2026, will be funded by a payroll tax shared between workers and employers.
Vance did not specify whether there should be a national law, but agreed that paid family leave is a “bipartisan issue”, saying that his wife, an attorney, benefited from such a policy at her employer.
Currently, the federal government guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid but job-protected Family and Medical Leave For eligible employees. In 2019, Trump also signed legislation providing up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for eligible federal employees.
National paid leave legislation has been rejected several times over the past several decades. Its recurrence led to it being included in the failed Build Back Better bill before being cut.
And although Trump was the first Republican president to call for paid family leave, programs proposed during his administration did not receive bipartisan support in part because of the funding approach, which would have required families to borrow for their future. Was.
The bill was to provide 12 weeks of paid leave. Re-inducted into Congress In May 2023.
How does paid family leave work in California?
California is home to the oldest paid family leave program in the country, which has been continuously revised since its passage in 2002. Starting in January, the state is increasing how much an employee can collect during family or medical leave. An effort to ensure that low-wage workers can afford it.
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People who earn up to $60,000 a year will be able to replace up to 90% of their income for family or medical leave in California, up from 60%. Workers who earn more will be able to collect 70%.
To help offset the increase, California is removing the cap on the payroll tax, requiring high earners to contribute 1.1% of their income instead of the tax once their wages reach $153,164. should be limited.
Although most states offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave, California lags behind. The state increased paid family leave from six to eight weeks in 2020. Despite this, California has one of the lowest barriers to entry, according to Jenya Cassidy, director of the California Work and Family Coalition. Anyone who earns at least $300 a year and contributes to state disability insurance is eligible for benefits.
This article is part of The Times’s Early Childhood Education initiative, which focuses on the education and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, visit latimes.com/earlyed,
