Hillary Clinton proposes capping how much parents pay for child care

Hillary Clinton talks child care in Kentucky

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Image)

On Tuesday in Kentucky, Hillary Clinton said that child care is too much of a financial strain on families, and proposed capping the amount parents have to pay at 10 percent of their income. She said that if both parents earn minimum wage, they spend about 20 percent of their income on child care, while single parents have to spend 40 percent of their income. "If we're going to say we are for family values, then we need to value families," she said at a health center. Clinton did not provide details for how her plan would work, but said it would involve tax breaks and subsidies. She also said it's important to raise the wages of child care workers.

Clinton painted affordable quality child care as important not just for working parents but also for college students and a family's future income, noting that 25 percent of people in college or community college in Kentucky already have children. Clinton also discussed goals for reducing other stresses on families, including pushing employers to ease "unpredictable, absolutely backbreaking schedules." You can watch some of her comments in the Associated Press video below. Peter Weber

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.