WASHINGTON (`) — The White House is arguing for more federal support for child care programs in an economic report to be released Monday, drawing on extensive research to say that additional spending improves children’s lives, the quality of early childhood education increase and enable more women to work.
The analysis aligns with President Joe Biden’s political messages as ideological lines are drawn for the 2024 election. Democrats have tried to focus more on Republican lawmakers who restricted access to abortions after last year’s Supreme Court decision and called for a requirement that impoverished parents be employed in order to receive state aid.
The government is also making it clearer that its child and family policies are better for overall economic growth, not just in terms of social justice. The White House Council of Economic Advisers compiled the 28-page analysis on child care as part of its broader annual Presidential Economic Report. The report is typically a summary of trends, policy achievements, and challenges in the US economy.
“The President’s approach is that we need to invest in our children because we know there will be multiple paybacks,” said Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Rouse added that government support for childcare would help ensure a “robust workforce” as the cost often prevents parents from working. Childcare costs can exceed their income, meaning parents are better off staying unemployed or working part-time, even if it can eat away at their long-term earning potential. This reflects a problem in the US economy that the private sector could not solve on its own, leading the Biden administration to push for greater government involvement.
The analysis is backed by studies showing that every dollar invested in early childhood education can yield a return of $7 to $12, if not more. Spending makes children more likely to stay in school and stay employed as adults, helping to spur economic growth, reduce crime, and ultimately lessen their reliance on government programs. A recent study cited in the analysis shows that the benefits are cross-generational and extend to the children of those who received childcare.
The analysis also addresses market failures in child care in the United States. Not only is it expensive, but daycare workers are often so poorly paid that many quit their jobs, causing a lack of available support. The latest data from the Department of Labor shows that childcare workers make $17.95 an hour, about 36% less than the average non-supervisory worker in the US economy.
This analysis recommends greater government funding to make childcare more affordable for families and also to increase the wages of workers in this sector, which would help improve the quality of care.
Many Republicans are skeptical about the benefits of more federal aid for childcare, which they have criticized as part of a cultural rather than a financial agenda.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has argued that reducing the deficit would be a better policy choice because it could help families by lowering inflation. When the Commerce Department recently announced that major computer chip makers would have to provide affordable childcare as part of receiving federal aid, some Republican senators accused the Biden administration of social engineering.
The Biden administration has portrayed these objections as red herrings, saying that investing in child care and extending the forfeited child tax credit — temporarily expanded under its coronavirus relief legislation — would spur growth.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that losing abortion rights will hurt women’s economic prospects. And in his State of the Union address last month, the president said his social policy also focuses on the economy.
“Let’s also ensure that working parents can afford to support a family with sick leave, paid family and medical leave, and affordable child care that will enable millions of people to go to work,” Biden said. “And by the way, when we do all these things, we increase productivity. We increase economic growth.”
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