Biden to propose $775 billion child care, elder care plan, funded largely by wealthy real estate investors
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will unveil a sweeping proposal Tuesday to help families pay for child care for children 4 and under, in-home elder care for aging parents, and long-term care for the disabled. The plan, estimated to cost $775 billion over 10 years, would also fund 150,000 public health care worker jobs. "If we truly want to reward work in this country, we have to ease the financial burden of care that families are carrying, and we have to elevate the compensation, benefits, training, and education opportunities for certification, and dignity of caregiving workers and educators," Biden's campaign said.
Biden's "21st Century Caregiving and Education Workforce" plan follows major proposals on green energy and Buy American economics. It would provide universal child care to 3- and 4-year-olds, fund new child care centers, work to clear the backlog of in-home elder and disabled care requests, and help caregivers get better pay and education, among other planks.
Biden's campaign said only that the proposal "will be paid for by rolling back unproductive and unequal tax breaks for real estate investors with incomes over $400,000 and taking steps to increase tax compliance for high-income earners." A senior campaign official told Bloomberg News that Biden's administration would specifically target "like-kind exchanges," which let investors defer taxes by reinvesting commercial real estate sales in another property, and also stop investors from using real estate losses to slash their income tax bills.
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Unlike President Trump, "I know how hard it is to be a single dad who has to work with two young sons at home," Biden said last month. "I know what it means to bring your aging parent into your home to take care of them in their final years. I've done both. And it's hard. And it's hard for millions of Americans who are just trying to make ends meet."
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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.
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