Clinton Lays Out Agenda For Making Child Care Better — And More Affordable

[riversedge]

Anything she can do to help child-care costs would be most welcome.



Clinton Lays Out Agenda For Making Child Care Better — And More Affordable
Her proposals could set up a stark contrast with Donald Trump’s.


05/10/2016 06:00 am ET | Updated 2 days ago


Jonathan Cohn

Senior National Correspondent, The Huffington Post

Clinton Talks Women, Family Issues in Va. Suburb


Hillary Clinton on Tuesday sketched out an agenda for helping families with young children, including an ambitious promise to put high-quality child care within financial reach of all working parents.

Clinton described her vision during an appearance at a social services center in Lexington, Kentucky, that provides subsidized child care to low-income families. It was the second consecutive day in which Clinton, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, focused on work-family issues. And she said the need for government action was clear. “It’s time to face up to the reality of what family life is like today and to support families,” Clinton said.

The most concrete part of the agenda, first reported by The Huffington Post, is a pair of narrow but potentially important proposals. One would bolster a highly regarded “home visiting” program designed to help low-income children at risk of emotional, intellectual, and physical harm. If Clinton has her way, the program, known as the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Initiative, would reach twice as many children as it does today.

The other initiative would seek to boost pay for child-care workers, as a way to improve retention and attract educators with stronger qualifications. Clinton will call this the RAISE initiative, for “Respect And Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators,” and it will be based on successful pilot programs now operating in several states.

But the most intriguing part of Tuesday’s proposal was Clinton’s call to make sure that no family ever pays more than 10 percent of its income on child-care expenses. To accomplish this, campaign aides said, Clinton would use a combination of subsidized child care and tax credits. The campaign did not provide more information on how these subsidies and credits would work, or how big they would be, saying only that such details would come later this year.

[uppityperson]

1. This addresses the 2 big points of child care workers need to be paid living wage while parents

can't afford to pay more. I wish this would be done, it would help very many people and children.

[riversedge]

2. I can see Hillary fighting as hard as she can for this agenda

[dchill]

3. "10 percent of its income"

Traditionally called a tithe, I believe. Undoubtedly involving some privatized third-party middle-man "businesses" to administer this help. They'd be prime fodder for campaign donations...

Details would come later...

[missingthebigdog]

4. Really??

Do you really hate her so much that you have to resort to making things up?

Why not spend a minute thinking about it, and then posting some legitimate concern about how a program like she is advocating would be funded or administered? Or even about how unfair it is to childless people who reap no benefit?

[dchill]

7. What version of any government program would pass...

a Republican/DLC-dominated Congress without an unnecessary profit-taking middleman to rake in profits and fund never-ending political campaigns? Ever hear of Obamacare?

[Hekate]

9. When I was a single mom of 2, "low cost" child care took half my take home pay

Nothing like being a secretary at a large university, making the same as the groundskeepers, let me tell you. The only thing that made that job at all affordable was that in those days we had incredible health care benefits. Subsequently a lot of the lower-paid job classes were privatized out, so God only knows if the groundskeepers, secretaries, and clerks have any bennies at all.

Anyway, the thought of a "tithe" is still beyond the rainbow for low wage workers, 35 years later. Bring it on, Hillary, bring it on.

[NCTraveler]

5. K&R nt

[passiveporcupine]

6. If child care costs are going to go up

then another important step to this program would be raising the minimum wage so there wouldn't be so many low income people. Even with a raised minimum wage, some families will need the subsidization and tax credits. But it would also mean the government cost would be a bit less.

We cannot continue to subsidize low income families for everything. We need to raise their wages. $15/hour is a good start!

[Hekate]

8. Kick and 5th Rec

[My Good Babushka]

10. Instead of subsidizing parents' wages

then childcare workers' wages, then a subsidy for procuring childcare, it would make more sense to give a stipend to the parent caregiver for preschool age children. Private companies will be getting the majority of the benefit of the several subsidies to help just one child. This is about providing just enough subsidies so that profits will be preserved at the highest levels and families won't be much better off.