JD Vance gets a head-spinning proposal to cut daycare costs

JD Vance’s recent proposals to lower the cost of day care left many people on social media confused.

On Wednesday, the Republican vice presidential nominee discussed the 2024 election in an interview at a church in Mesa, Arizona, with right-wing podcast host Charlie Kirk.

During the discussion, Kirk read aloud a question from someone in the audience who asked, “What can we do to lower the cost of day care?”

Vance noted that it was an “important question” before suggesting that working parents could ease the burden of rising childcare costs by relying on family members.

“One thing we can do is make it easier for families to choose the model they want,” the Ohio senator said. “One way you can take the pressure off people is… maybe Grandma or Grandpa wants to help out a little more. Or maybe an aunt or uncle wants to help a little more.”

“If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources we use for day care,” he said.

Vance then seemed to acknowledge that many families, for a variety of reasons, may not be able to take advantage of free childcare for relatives.

So she suggested another approach might be to make it easier to become a daycare worker.

“We actually need to give people the opportunity to get training in the skills they need in the 21st century,” he said. “We have a lot of people who love children who would love to babysit.”

The Republican senator argued that such people are scared away from the profession because they “don’t have access to the education they need” or because they are forced to get a “ridiculous certificate” that has nothing to do with caring for children. .”

“Don’t force every early childhood education specialist to get a six-year college degree,” he added.

Many parents across the country publicly expressed their disappointment at how little time was spent on the skyrocketing issue of child care costs during the first 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on June 27.

According to a report published by the tax company KPMG in May, child care costs are rising at almost twice the rate of overall inflation.

Trump avoided the question entirely in the debate, and Biden indicated his support for increasing tax credits for families with childcare needs.

Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out, has discussed ways to approach high child care costs during her campaign.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, addressed the issue as president with child tax credits — though he hasn’t made his current proposals on the issue clear.

The folks at X, formerly Twitter, criticized Vance’s recent interview, pointing out that grandparents are not the answer to making childcare more affordable.

“He’s really ignorant and out of touch. People asking family members to take care of their kids is not a political solution,” one X user wrote.

“They want grandma to work until she’s 72. How is she going to take care of the nanny?” wrote another.

“JDV’s answer: free labor. get someone else to do it for you for free,” another X user added.

Other people pointed out that while the education and certification requirements for day care workers vary from state to state, child care workers are generally not required to have six years of education beyond high school — or a college degree at all.

See more responses to Vance’s childcare cost comments below:

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