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Anamika Sen is an assistant professor of economics at Bates College. This column reflects her views and does not speak on behalf of Bates College. She is a former policy fellow with the Maine chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN), which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. SSN members’ columns appear in the BDN every other week.
As annual child care costs in Maine approach nearly $10,000 per child, the stakes for working families in the 2024 election couldn’t be higher. The Trump and Harris campaigns offer sharply contrasting visions for the future of family support with radically different policy solutions to the nation’s child care crisis.
The Trump campaign’s policies on child care are likely to rely heavily on tax incentives. Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Trump administration expanded the child tax credit (CTC) by increasing the tax credit to $2,000 per child and allowing more families to qualify for the benefits by relaxing the eligibility criteria. These expansions are, however, scheduled to expire in 2025.
The current Trump campaign has mentioned a further increase in this tax credit to $5,000 to offset the rising costs of raising children. An expansion of this scale, if made widely available to families, could significantly reduce child poverty, as evidenced by research on the impact of the pandemic-era CTC expansion.
The Trump campaign’s stance on child care policies has emphasized personal choice over direct government involvement. In a recent interview, Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, suggested relying on grandparents and other extended family members to reduce expenses on formal child care services. This perspective aligns with the campaign’s focus on traditional family values and gender roles. Vance also discussed the possibility of easing regulations for private individuals to become child care providers, potentially alleviating some of the supply-side challenges that the child care industry is currently facing.
The Harris campaign has consistently recognized the need for government investment to make high-quality child care affordable and accessible for all families, regardless of income. As vice president, Kamala Harris has strongly advocated for expanding programs such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which provides child care assistance to over a million children from low-income families. Her goals of bringing child care costs down to no more than 7 percent of a family’s income and expanding the child tax credit would bring considerable relief to families, especially given that current child care expenses take up about 19 percent of the average family’s income in Maine.
In addition to increasing child care affordability, the Harris campaign prioritizes improving the wages and working conditions of child care workers, many of whom are women of color. Often described as “women’s work,” care work has been historically undervalued and underpaid in the United States. Child care workers are currently among the lowest-paid occupational groups in the country. The vice president’s record includes supporting policies to improve child care providers’ financial stability by ensuring timely payments and higher salaries for Head Start teachers.
The policy proposals put forward by the 2024 presidential candidates highlight their contrasting viewpoints when it comes to issues of child care. For voters weighing their options, the choice comes down to whether the current child care crisis can be addressed through individual empowerment and personal choices or if it requires large-scale public investment. With the future of children and families on the ballot box, the decision could not be more consequential.
