Later in Thursday’s debate, the presidential candidates had a chance to discuss a topic that almost never gets a spotlight but affects millions of people: child care.
What would they do to make child care more affordable?
The issue was quickly overshadowed by a dizzying barrage of insults between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, who instead argued over who had the top spot on the presidential ticket.
“They voted — he’s the worst president,” Trump said. “Look it up on the Internet,” Biden retorted, saying that it’s Trump, in fact, “who is the worst president in American history.”
If the ranking was about presidents and their stance on child care, neither came out on top.
Only Biden briefly touched on the subject, noting that Trump had “done virtually nothing on child care.”
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“We should dramatically expand the child care tax credit. We should dramatically increase the availability of women and men or single parents to be able to go back to work, and we should encourage businesses to provide child care,” Biden said, outlining elements of a child care plan he tried to push through Congress in 2021 and 2022 but ultimately failed.
Total duration: 22 seconds.
A few minutes later, the two candidates were much more comfortable discussing golf, their swings and who was going to win.
Total duration: 56 seconds.
Childcare is a economic problem of huge consequence to voters after years of rising costs that have impacted the ability of parents – and especially mothers – to stay in the job marketIn 2023, child care costs families nearly $12,000 On average, and in most states, child care costs exceed the cost of tuition at in-state universities.
Biden has spoken a lot about his interest in improving the affordability of child care, but has been unable to pass legislation that would do so. Trump, for his part, has said very little on the subject, despite it being a major concern. priority for his daughterIvanka Trump, during her presidential term.
The inclusion of child care in the debate came after advocacy from Moms First, an organization that advocates for child care and other family policies, which circulated a petition Moms First CEO Reshma Saujani delivered more than 13,000 signatures from parents across the country to CNN this week.
“Moms, parents, guardians: don’t let anyone make you believe that your child care issues are your own and that only you can solve them. This is a systemic problem that needs a systemic response,” Saujani posted on Instagram Thursday night. “We just need a petition to force them to actually address the issue of child care.”
