Its reaction to Donald Trump’s childcare plan makes that as obvious as ever.
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“We need working mothers to be fairly compensated for their work and to have access to affordable, quality child care for their kids”, Trump said at a community center in a Philadelphia suburb, sticking mostly to his prepared remarks.
Ivanka Trump introduced her father, marking her formal return to the campaign trail weeks after she introduced him at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. And a lot about the plan is very good, or at least better than what the United States has now.
“By recapturing fraud and improper payments in the unemployment insurance program, we can provide six weeks of paid-maternity leave to any mother with a newborn child whose employer does not provide the benefit”, Trump told the Aston audience. It is capped at the average cost of care in the state and is available in single-income households making up to $250,000 and $500,000 in joint-income households. Sounds pretty decent, right?
To achieve this goal, Clinton would seek to boost federal spending on child-care subsidies and provide “tax relief for the cost of child care to working families”.
Trump’s child care plan is ill-considered.
Many evangelical Republicans might also balk at the fact the perk would be available to same-sex couples, according to Trump’s Web site, which says, “The benefits would be available in the same way that the IRS now recognizes same-sex couples: if the marriage is recognized under state law, then it is recognized under federal law”. In fact, America is one of the only remaining countries with no mandated leave policy in place for new parents.
Plenty of fathers do want to play a more active role in their children’s lives, and this child care plan’s refusal to make leave transferable is a big old middle finger in their faces (and those of women who would really like their male partners to share the parenting responsibilities).
Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday evening, Ivanka claimed that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton doesn’t have any plans when it comes to childcare and paid leave.
“We take an individualized approach to helping employees manage family and work responsibilities”, Rosen said in the statement. “To help lower-income parents, the government will match half of the first $1,000 deposited per year”.
Trump had previously pitched the proposal for a 15 percent tax rate on income from partnerships and limited liability companies as a boon for small business – but many hedge funds, private equity firms and other large-scale businesses use the structure.
By contributing to a “Dependent Care Savings Account,” families will be able to set aside money, up to $2,000 per year, for the care of children and elderly family members.
Other Trump proposals include allowing working families to deduct childcare costs on their taxes, which critics have said won’t help lower-income families who don’t earn enough to pay taxes at all.
“I have three young children myself, and I’m grateful daily for the means to pursue two of my dreams: being a mother and investing in a career that fulfills me”.
The plan fleshes out and broadens the general idea Mr. Trump brought up in an economic policy speech in Detroit in early August, when he said he wanted to offer tax deductions for child-care expenses.
Trump proposed a “Dependent Care Savings Account,” which looks much like a health care savings account.
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Clinton has proposed capping child care costs at 10% of a family’s income.
