Harris’ Child Care Plan Is Flawed
The vice president's goal to cap the costs of rearing children to 7% of income will create administrative and implementation headaches.
Raising a family is expensive.
Photographer: Archive Photos/Getty Images
“My plan is that no family, no working family, should pay more than 7% of their income in child care.” That’s what Vice President Kamala Harris said at a recent event in Philadelphia with the National Association of Black Journalists when asked about what she would do about the rising cost of child care. Compared with former President Donald Trump’s answer to a similar question a few weeks ago, in which he meandered from to tariffs to his daughter before declaring that “child care is child care,” it was at least a direct answer, if light on details.
Unfortunately, the one detail included in Harris’ response — the cap on costs at 7% of income — is problematic. It’s a worthy and necessary goal to have child care cost a smaller share of family income, but latching too tightly on to this number risks a Trojan horse of administrative burdens and implementation difficulties.