Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is rolling out a $775 billion plan to fund child care and elder care, The Washington Post reports.
Biden is expected to unveil the plan on Tuesday. The funding, spread out over 10 years, would provide universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, fund the building of new childcare facilities, and provide tax credits and grants to help pay for caregivers of children and the elderly.
The plan would provide low-income families with an $8,000 tax credit to help pay for child care.
The plan would also fund 150,000 community health workers.
The plan provides additional funding to community colleges so they can offer child care to students.
The campaign estimates the plan will help create 5 million new jobs.
Funding comes from real estate investor taxes:
The Biden campaign said the funding, in part, would come from rolling back tax breaks for real estate investors and “taking steps to increase tax compliance for high-income earners.”
“The pandemic has laid bare just how hard it is for people in this country to find access to quality caregiving they need for themselves, or to juggle the responsibilities of working and also caring for family members,” the campaign said. “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 building economic platform:
The new plan follows an earlier Biden proposal to invest $700 billion on materials and tech in the US.
Biden also rolled out a clean energy initiative earlier this year that calls to eliminate carbon pollution from power plants by 2035.
“Donald Trump has no idea what it is to be a single parent who’s barely getting by but needs to find child care. He hasn’t a clue what it’s like to provide care for an aging parent. That’s understandable,” Biden said earlier this month. “But it’s unconscionable that he doesn’t even really try to empathize with those who are struggling. Like a lot of you, I understand it personally.
“I know how hard it is to be a single dad who has to work with two young sons at home,” he added. “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.”
