Trump and Biden dodged debate questions on child care. Families don't have that luxury.

By Venessa Wong

Parents 'are frankly pissed off and anxious about what the future looks like, and that's what was so disappointing about last night'

Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden both sidestepped a question about how they would make child care more affordable during Thursday night's presidential debate, despite strong agreement among both Republicans and Democrats that "being a parent today is financially harder than ever before."

The candidates' silence on child-care costs left advocates frustrated. "We are frankly pissed off and anxious about what the future looks like, and that's what was so disappointing about last night," Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union - a group of 1,700 parent organizations that was founded in 2020 - told MarketWatch. "Both candidates were just embarrassingly short on any specific policy details, and that's really what we need to hear right now. There's a lot at stake."

Families are not only struggling with child-care costs, but they're also coping with debt, healthcare costs and underfunded schools, Rodrigues noted. There are families who "are never going to get access to economic mobility," she said. "This is, I think, part of the reason why some [parents] are just turning away with disgust," she added, referring to people who aren't excited to vote for either candidate.

For families with at least two children, child care is now more expensive than rent or a mortgage payment in most of the U.S. In response to a debate question about how he would make child-care costs more affordable, Trump used his time instead to address an unrelated topic - defending his choice to fire his former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, who had confirmed that Trump had made disparaging remarks about service members and veterans.

Biden then used his time to say that the U.S. is still "the most admired country in the world" and to call Trump the worst president in American history, before adding: "He did very - virtually nothing to child care. We should significantly increase the child-care tax credit. We should significantly increase the availability of women and men for child or single parents to be able to go back to work, and we should encourage businesses to hold - to have child-care facilities." Biden's microphone was cut off at that point due to the debate's time constraints.

The absence of a robust child-care discussion during the debate was a "missed opportunity" to articulate solutions, said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and chief executive of MomsRising. She added that "the Biden-Harris administration - and Democrats in Congress - have worked tirelessly to make quality, affordable care available to many more people, while the Trump administration did not."

The Biden and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Child-care costs are rising faster than inflation and income

Neither candidate laid out their plans about an issue that costs many families more than their housing. Child-care prices rose 210% from 1990 to 2019 - faster than consumer prices overall, and faster than median family incomes, according to a 2023 White House report. It noted that households that pay for child care spend approximately 13% of their income on it, about twice the 7% rate that the federal government considers to be "affordable." Low-income families spend an even greater 30% of their income on child care.

Meanwhile, the median annual earnings of child-care workers is $30,300, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Child-care advocates have urged for more public spending on child care to make it more accessible for families while also boosting pay for these workers.

"Child care is a priority issue for families across the country," Susan Gale Perry, chief executive of Child Care Aware of America - which published the report on child-care costs compared to rent - told MarketWatch. "Voters want a plan, and they want action, to make America's child care strong. I don't think they heard that last night."

Another advocate, Reshma Saujani, founder and chief executive of Moms First, said in a statement: "Moms First is disappointed that our presidential candidates failed to acknowledge the seriousness of our child-care crisis and its impact on American mothers." Moms First had launched a petition requesting that CNN ask about child care during the debate that received 15,000 signatures.

Parents are motivated to be a united voting bloc

Despite parents sharing many similar concerns and American families being a primary focus of political rhetoric, they have not behaved as a voting bloc. In a 2023 survey, Pew Research Center found that compared to people without kids, "at all age levels, parents are more Republican-oriented." However, QC Roll Call reported that "having a child is not a clear, determinative predictor of which party someone is going to vote for in the way that gender is," with women more likely to vote for Democrats and men more likely to vote for Republicans.

But this may change as groups organize around issues impacting families and parents. "Parents are active and motivated to be participating as a united bloc" politically, said Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union. She noted that over the last five years, she has taken thousands of parents to Washington to have their voices heard. "We've moved way past the PTA and bake sales," she said. "Parents are making time to participate in politics."

"As candidates vie for votes this election season, they should not underestimate the power of moms," Moms First's Saujani said. "We are a powerful constituency that cannot be ignored. And we deserve real, substantive solutions to this crisis."

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-Venessa Wong

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06-28-24 1501ET

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