Many of the same people who say, “Keep the government off my body,†now want the same government to provide “affordable†child care.
While I disagree with many things that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance says, he and I are on the same page regarding how much the government should be involved in our children’s child care.
Starting with the infamous presidential debate back in June, presidential candidates and their running mates have been fielding questions about the cost of child care and the duty of the government in the matter.
Ahead of the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, CNN, which hosted the debate, received a petition with nearly 15,000 signatures demanding affordability of child care be part of the debate.
Debate co-moderator Jake Tapper asked how the candidates would help American families struggling to pay.
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Trump ignored this question entirely. Biden, who has since dropped out of the race stated: “We should significantly increase the child care tax credit. We should significantly increase the availability of women and men, of single parents, to be able to go back to work, and we should encourage businesses to have child care.â€
There were no direct questions about health care at last week’s presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
It took seven weeks for Harris’ campaign website to add “issues.†Here is what it says about child care:
“As President, she will fight to lower care costs for American families, including by expanding high-quality home care services for seniors and people with disabilities and ensuring hardworking families can afford high-quality child care, all while ensuring that care workers are paid a living wage and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.â€
How she would go about this and how it would be paid for remains to be seen.
Last week at the Economic Club of New York, one member asked Trump the following loaded question: “If you win in November, can you commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable, and if so, what specific piece of legislation will you advance?â€
Trump’s response was incoherent at best: “... I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that — because, look, child care is child care. It’s, couldn’t — you know, there’s something … You have to have it. In this country, you have to have it.†He then pivoted to tariffs.
I will fully stipulate that Trump has never been a traditional conservative and has no cohesive ideology, so there is no way to really know what he thinks about child care.
Trump’s running mate, Vance, was asked the same question by founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk. Vance answered: “One of the ways you might be able to relieve pressure on people who are paying so much for day care is to make it so that maybe Grandma or Grandpa wants to help out, or there is an aunt or uncle that wants to help out.â€
Vance has since been excoriated for his response. But as a conservative, who believes in personal responsibility and small government, I think his answer was quite legitimate.
My husband and I made a tentative plan for child care when I was pregnant with our first child. Once our daughter with Down syndrome was born, we realized we needed to rethink the arrangement in order to provide the most appropriate care for her.
At the time, my husband worked shifts, so I piecemealed a schedule which included working on days he was off. We also relied on help from one of our daughter’s grandparents to watch her one day a week.
Our special-needs daughter is still home with us and even though she is an adult, my husband and I still work jobs that accommodate one of us being home with her at all times.
Of course working opposite shifts has left us with less time together as a couple and as a family. But this is what we signed up for when we decided to become parents. My husband and I have always been in agreement that raising our children and balancing work is our responsibility and ours alone. Both of us have given up on certain opportunities and career paths in order to make this work and never considered putting this burden on our government.
Both my husband and I were raised with similar ethics and were both endowed with the gift of valuing personal responsibility. His parents leaned on grandparents to care for him while his mom worked. My parents, who did not live near family members, worked opposite shifts. My mom worked nights and my dad worked days.
Despite the questions to our current candidates, all 50 states and U.S. territories already receive federal funds which subsidize child care programs for low-income families. The requirements and dollar amounts vary by state.
Of course higher costs of living impact all families and there may very well be solid policy proposals which could reduce the cost of child care but the obligation of raising children lies with parents — and not the federal government or unserious candidates.
Schmidt is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. SchmidtOpinions@gmail.com.
On X: @SchmidtOpinions.