Democrats are pushing for the largest welfare expansion in our lifetime that puts Washington in control of working families’ paid leave and child care. According to left-leaning analysis, Democrats’ approach would drive up the cost of unsubsidized child care for middle class families by $13,000.

On Tuesday, Ways and Means Republicans held a roundtable discussion examining how these programs harm America’s working families and Main Street businesses.

Carrie Lukas, President of Independent Women’s Forum said:

“Even if these proposals were absolutely free for taxpayers, Americans should still oppose this daycare and preschool proposal simply because government should not be in charge of child care and preschool. 

 

“Of course, we know this is far from free. It’s going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars from taxpayers, and it’s not just taxpayers who will be paying, but middle class families.”

 

Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation said:

“We heard recently from University of Chicago economists, they estimated that the non-work based monthly child payments would cause 1.5 million parents to drop out of the labor force and result in zero improvement in deep childhood poverty.

 

“Some unpublished data that I was able to get from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that this could already be happening.

 

“One-size-fits all government directed child care and pre-K entitlement is just going to drive up costs and crowd out child care providers that the parents actually want.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Democrats’ untargeted welfare-without-work policies stick Americans in poverty and hook a new generation on government dependency. 
• Democrats are holding back our jobs recovery by forcing Main Street businesses to compete with government benefits to fill record job openings. 
• Republicans have introduced the Protecting Worker Paychecks and Family Choice Act to provide greater flexibility to parents while focusing the greatest benefits on low-wage workers. Republicans’ proposal would expand access to paid family and medical leave while targeting aid to those who need it most.

READ: Families Need Good Jobs, Not Washington-Run Paid Leave and Child Care

READ: Top Five Reasons Democrats’ Welfare Expansion Fails Struggling Families and Threatens Jobs Recovery