The cost of raising a child in the United States has been climbing well past the pace of everyday inflation, and families are feeling it. That growing financial burden is one of the major reasons that Americans give for why they are deciding to have fewer children than they would like.
Given widespread concerns about the cost of living in general, are there steps that can be taken to ease the pressure on families with children – steps we can agree on? Our latest study shows that, in fact, Republicans and Democrats now largely agree that the government should do substantially more to help families with the cost of raising children, from helping pay for preschool and childcare to more tax breaks to paid family leave.
My colleagues and I at the University
of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC) found this wide range of agreement in surveys we conducted nationally, and in 11 states and 28 House districts with competitive congressional races in November’s midterm elections.
What voters want on childcare and early education
For millions of working parents, childcare and preschool are among their biggest expenses. Washington has debated for years whether the federal government should do more to bring those costs down, including a major 2021 effort that passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
Americans appear ready for action.
Bipartisan majorities support the federal government providing $25 billion to states and cities that want it to create or expand preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, available to all families at no cost.
- Nationally: 89% of Democrats; 69% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts: 75-92% of Democrats; 56-84% of Republicans
On childcare, Americans favor subsidizing care so that low- and middle-income families spend no more than 7% of their income on it.
- Nationally: 89% of Democrats; 77% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts: 79-93% of Democrats; 56-84% of Republicans
American voters support increasing the child tax credit
Parents also face the everyday costs that come with raising children – from food and clothing to diapers, school supplies and housing.
One way the federal government has helped families meet those costs is through the child tax credit. It was temporarily increased to $3,600 in 2021 before returning to $2,000, and then being slightly increased to $2,200 last year.
Large majorities favor increasing it to $3,600 again and making the full credit available to lower-income families.
- Nationally: 84% of Democrats; 74% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts: 73-91% of Democrats; 61-86% of Republicans
Bipartisan majorities want national paid family and medical leave
The financial pressure doesn’t just start with childcare. For many parents, taking time off work to care for their newborn – if their company even offers that time off – can also mean losing several paychecks.
Bipartisan majorities support creating a national program that would allow all workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn, as well as support a family member with a serious health condition or recover from one themselves.
Workers would receive two-thirds of their wages during that time, up to $4,000 a month, funded by a new 0.2% payroll tax on both employers and employees.
- Nationally: 84% of Democrats; 68% of Republicans.
- Competitive states and districts: 72-96% of Democrats; 57-80% of Republicans
There may be a larger lesson here as candidates head into the midterms.
Clearly, Americans share a desire to give children a better life, and help make sure families don’t have to financially struggle so much to do so.
For years, Washington has debated these ideas through an old partisan lens. But with broad majorities of Republicans and Democrats in support of more help with the costs of childcare, preschool and raising a family, it may be time to update our assumptions about what American families want – and what they expect from their government.
Steven Kull is director of the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation (PPC), a nonpartisan research center affiliated with the School of Public Policy.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Raising kids is getting more expensive. Americans want help | Opinion
