Posted on 09/15/2016 8:36:20 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
WHY subsidise childcare? The most commonly-heard justification is that doing so will encourage work. Child care is hugely expensive, to the point where it is often better for parentsoverwhelmingly, mothersto look after a child themselves rather than work. Gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country, motherhood is, said Ivanka Trump at the Republican convention, announcing that her father, like Hillary Clinton, would propose a child care-subsidy plan. That plan emerged on September 13th.
At first pass, the economic argument for subsidising child care is a bit iffy. If a mothers potential wages reflect her productivity, and if the price of child care reflects the costs of providing it, then there is no economic loss when a mother chooses to stay at home. Take a simplified example: suppose a low-skilled worker can either take a minimum-wage job in Walmart while paying another minimum-wage worker to look after her child, or she can stay at home and care for the child herself. If she stays at home, the second minimum-wage worker takes the Walmart job. Whatever she decides, someone looks after the child, and someone works at Walmart. There is no economic gain from switching the workers around. Even if the woman is high-skilled, making work more lucrative than saving on child care costs, the gap between her wages and the price of child care reflects the benefit to the economy of her choosing to work. She is sufficiently incentivized without any government intervention.
Of course, economic reality is more complicated. Mothers may not fully account for the effect a break from work might have on their future wages. And there are other benefits to reducing the costs of having children, not least that kids grow up to work and pay taxes themselves (see article).
h/t?
Cutting government spending is the answer, not further subsidizing to support liberal ideas.
h/t means “hat tip”. I have first heard the expression from you before using it myself.
Precisely!
Ahhhh!
Those exist now, managed by companies who offer them. Who will manage them for the self employed or for people working at companies which don't offer them?
I think it'll be Trump. He's promising the most.
I think we have some so star struck into the cult of personality we are witnessing another Obama nomination....from the sense of he can say absolutely anything pitch any liberal idea and the crowd will say YES GENIUS JUST PROFOUND GENIUS
You might want to consider that increasing the citizen birthrate is in the nation's interest. Contrary to the tenor of several posters on this thread, what Trump is proposing is simply an update of a Harry Truman policy that used the tax code to subsidize a increase in the birthrate with a few add ons. The government itself has an interest in an increased birthrate so that there are adequate numbers of qualified young people available to the military in time of war or to take up skilled labor positions. More is better.
We are essentially living in an economic depression courtesy of the idiots the USA has been electing to public office, and, if truth be known, the idiots who have elected them.
Many people today are basically too selfish and materialistic to make the sacrifices to raise children much less large families of them. My mother's sister had ten children. A female cousin in Cambridge, Massachusetts, married to a ditch digger, and whom I met on her 95th birthday, had twenty-four children. We aren't seeing a lot of that any more. No one has an obligation to have ten, much less twenty-four, but all too many determine at the outset to have none or one. They have a right to make that decision and the rest of us have the right to criticize that decision.
It goes without saying that this is not a criticism of those who are involuntarily childless. Furthermore, we should praise those who are childless who adopt and nurture the children of parents who cannot properly care for their children.
This is a prescription for us to go further down the sorry road already traveled by Germany, Scandanavia, France, Italy and Western Europe. Don't like the numbers of Latin American and Muslim immigrants and what they will likely do to our economy and our culture? Blame the selfishly childless materialists who think that somehow they can have it all including Social Security and Medicare, without taxpaying citizens.
We live in a still largely free society. No one has any business requiring anyone to have children and no one suggests such a thing. Nonetheless, we NEED more native born Americans to maintain OUR society, OUR standards and OUR culture.
When you think of "liberal," you apparently see only programs that cost YOU money. Is a military draft conservative or liberal? Certainly an all volunteer military has much to recommend it. Personal freedom far more profound than your right to squeeze the buffalo until it scrams. The benefit of depriving politicians of the luxury of forcing young men into service. Instead, the politicians have to CONVINCE them that the cause is worthy.
Just in case there ARE women who cannot actually afford to bring their children to term, proposals such as Trump's will ease the burden on those women while concededly increasing your burden and mine (by an infinitesimal amount). We are paying colossal sums of money (a lot more than is proposed here by Trump) to fund the Marxist indoctrination centers that are our gummint skewels. Abolish the gummint skewels and take half the savings for this program and the other half to fund parent controlled actual quality education without the costly athletic programs, marching bands, junior years in Europe, and all the other frills and fancy stuff.
While we are at it, destroy, by appointments, the leftist bloc on SCOTUS, overturn Roe vs. Wade, and recognize a 14th Amendment right to life of each and every unborn child.
If it costs mere money for these kids to live, so be it.
“Conservatism”, circa 2016. ;-)
Thank you, dearest, BE. I so agree with you.
The disaster is that mothers feel driven to deliver themselves to the work force and their babies to “day care”, in order to provide for their babies. (Go figure.)
However, in a largely Godless nation this little tax break may save some babies, just as you indicated.
Trump has it right!
I still disagree for the following reasons:
First, somebody should be kicking the father in the butt and get him to man up - like it or not it’s time to grow up. Why is Dad not in the equation?
Second, any woman who is cold-blooded enough to kill her own child (for whatever alleged reason) is NOT going to keep and raise it for a few extra thousand dollars per year. Besides, outlawing abortion would accomplish that goal of increasing the civilian population; then no need to further complicate the tax code.
There are multitudes of adoption centers and pro life organizations who will take that child off her hands if the mother wants to evade her own responsibility - no questions asked.
Finally, I was to understand from others here that the primary reason for proposing this is to garner support from women who would otherwise not pull the lever for The Donald. Sooooo... saving this country from the abyss and the very real prospect of becoming a third world cesspool is not enough reason for these women to pull the lever for Trump over Hillary or Jill? But help with day care will?
“Couldnt agree more. It is our responsibility as human beings to populate the earth and pass on our values.
Strange conservatives sometimes subscribe to the over population myth.”
Just saw this so I want comment. While it may be our responsibility to “be fruitful and multiply”, the personal responsibility I am referring to is bearing the burden of caring for and raising a child by the parents (or extended family) ALONE.
As one of our Founders pointed out: To give to one American (by the gov’t), you must first take from another. Our system works best when everyone carries his/her own weight.
This is not based on Agenda 21 or some other NWO depopulation scheme, as you allude to, JenB.
I guess it takes a village as they say to raise a child so now that village includes free money from my pockets into the hands of parents that decide to have a child and damned be the financial burden, that’s someone else’s money.
How conservatism has fallen so. Hey as long as the same liberal plan is stumped by my guy then it’s ok. I guarantee you anything had this been say limousine Nancy that proposed this, Harry Reid, or Obama I don’t think anyone here supporting this would be singing the same tune of support.
WE ARE BROKE!!! I don’t know what it will take to sink in for some...we are closing in on Socialism. Hell we are already half way there and the crowd is cheering it in. Population expansion is not reason to justify the transfer of wealth from those that have to those that have not. I guess this reasoning trumps going into a financial abyss
No children, no taxpayers, no defenders, no doctors, ...
Well said.
We can’t be for government taking from one to give to someone else when it happens to be something we agree with. Trump needs to be convinced that this is wrong, that it smacks of vote buying and it is anti-productive and anti conservative
More programs, more gibsmedats, More debt, no money, children suffer, no country. Supplemental welfare...how is it paid for? Dipping into unemployment fund which had no money.
Swell idea...get the government out of our lives! It’s not my job to work to supplement those that decide to have children.
How is a tax break “taking from another?”
Taxes are “taking from another.”
Tax breaks are letting them keep their money.
You aren’t one of those people who believe that letting people keep their own money is a cost to government because all money rightfully belongs to government, are you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.