Childcare in Biden’s BBB (Raising Costs, But Maybe a Good Unintended Consequence)

Childcare in Biden’s BBB

(Raising Costs, But Maybe a Good Unintended Consequence)

Joe Biden claims his Build Back Better (BBB) plan will lower childcare costs. But in reality, it will do the opposite for half of American families.

The study, published on Friday [12/10/21], was authored by Casey Mulligan, a University of Chicago professor who previously served as chief economist of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration.

It shows that child care costs could increase by up to 102% – and as much as 122% – for some Americans under Biden’s signature economic agenda, which would cap child care costs at no more than 7% of parents’ income for those earning their state’s median income. Parents are required to be working, searching for a job, in school or dealing with a health issue in order to qualify.

For a family with an infant and a 4-year-old, that could mean an additional annual expense of up to $27,000 unless they qualify for the subsidies in the Democrats’ spending bill. About half of families using non-parental child care would fall into that category, according to the analysis (Fox Business. Biden’s spending).

“It puts in place all these rules and regulations on child care providers. It would require thousands of child care providers to have an early education degree. It would… mandate wages from Washington,” Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., a House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness and Growth ranking member, said Tuesday [12/14/21].

“For the average American working family that is going to have to foot the bill for these rules changes, they’re going to feel it in the pocketbook and be absolutely clobbered,” he said…

Because Democrats’ child care plan would increase the mandated pay of child care workers to that of elementary school teachers – which is 138% higher than child care workers – the average price of child care per year would increase from $15,888 to $28,970, according to the analysis (Fox News. Child).

The Democrats’ House-passed spending bill promises that taxpayer dollars will provide access to “top tier” child care. In reality, this reckless spending comes with many strings attached. New regulations for child care providers will result in higher costs, fewer providers, and less access to affordable care for working families. The plan also attacks basic freedoms by prohibiting parents from choosing faith-based providers over government-approved options…

As the Senate takes up consideration of the so-called Build Back Better plan, it’s imperative to understand the potentially devastating ramifications of putting Washington bureaucrats — not parents — in control of child care.

Behind closed doors, Democrats designed a program that methodically ratchets up federal requirements for child care providers, going beyond already-burdensome state regulations. Under the guise of “quality,” they created new mandates for wages and qualification requirements that will undermine existing providers that families count on every day (Washington Examiner. Biden’s bill).

The Democrats’ child care proposal mandates higher wages for child care workers but then does not follow through on the public subsidies for all families. The result will be a massive increase in child care fees for families with incomes slightly above their state’s median income….

But in the first 3 years of the program, families with incomes that are just $1 over 100% of the median income (year one), 115% of the median income (year two), or 130% of the median income (year three) will be eligible for zero subsidies, meaning that they will be on the hook for the entire unsubsidized price, which as discussed above will now be at least $13,000 per year higher than before (People’s Policy Project. Democratic).

Thus, we see once again that governmental minimum wage requirements and regulations will increase costs to the consumer, as those not on the government dole will have to pay more, due to those increased mandated wages and regulations. In essence, those who don’t qualify for the subsidies will be paying the childcare of those who do.

Don’t miss also that Biden’s plan excludes faith-based providers. That will make the service more difficult to attain and reduce choices, while making the government the arbiter of what kind of care a child gets, not the parents.

However, there might be an unintended but potentially good aspect to this bill:

“Under this scenario, there will be many dual-earning couples who cannot afford child care if both of them continue to work, but could afford child care if one of them quit their job and thereby brought their family income below the eligibility cutoff,” the author of the study, Matt Bruenig, wrote. “Normally people who quit jobs to take care of their kids do so in order to save the money they’d have to spend on child care. Under this plan, they have to quit their job in order to afford child care” (People’s Policy Project. Democratic).

I explain in my two-volume set God’s Sex Plan that it is best for the children if the mother stays home to raise the kids while the father goes to work to provide for the family. The way this bill is structured, it might foster a return to that traditional family pattern. That is a very good thing.

However, that would only apply to married couples. This bill does not require a parent be married to receive the childcare benefit. In fact, it is more directed towards women who get pregnant out of wedlock.

I know that is true, as back on October 28, 2021, Biden tweeted a link to a seven-frame cartoon about Linda and her son Leo. It shows how Biden’s BBB plan will supposedly help them at every stage of their lives. The first panel shows Linda pregnant with Leo. The last panel has Leo visiting Linda in a nursing home.

However, my first thought in reading the cartoon was, where is the father? He is not shown in any of the seven panels. As such, it perfectly illustrates the main problem with Biden’s plan—it makes fathers obsolete by substituting Big Government for fathers. That is why I have dubbed Biden’s BBB plan the Make Fathers Obsolete plan. In Biden’s world, men are sperm donors, nothing more.

Again, the situation illustrated by the cartoon is who this childcare provision of the bill is really directed towards, unwed women, letting them know they do not need to marry the father, as the government will take care of them. No husband needed. Consequently, we are back to the destruction of the nuclear family by this bill.

However, having sex and getting pregnant out of wedlock are destructive sins, as is fathers abandoning their own children. I document each of these points in my Sex Plan books, but don’t ever expect Biden or any other Democrat to ever tell you that. They will continue to subsidize out of wedlock pregnancies, while downplaying the need for fathers. But fathers are essential for proper development of children, especially boys, as I also document in my books:

God’s Sex Plan: Volume One
What the Old Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality

God’s Sex Plan: Volume Two
What the New Testament Teaches About Human Sexuality

References:

Fox Business. Biden's spending bill could double child care costs for middle-class Americans.

Fox News. Child care programs in spending bill lead to GOP, Dems clashing over cost to middle class.

People’s Policy Project. Democratic Child Care Plan Will Spike Prices for the Middle Class by $13,000.

Washington Examiner. Biden's bill contains a hidden 'Toddler Tax’.

Alleged Corruption, Bias, and Fraud: Allegations of the Corruption of Joe Biden, Bias of the Media and Big Tech, and Fraud in the 2020 Election

This book covers events from October 2020 to New Year’s Day 2021 that are directly related to the 2020 presidential election. Those events include revelations about the alleged corruption of Joseph R. Biden via his son Hunter Biden. However, the mainstream media (MSM) and Big Tech did their best to hide that potential corruption from the American public, so that Biden could win the election. That worked, or so it was said. But allegations of voter fraud and anomalies abounded.

The above article was posted on this website on December 16, 2021.

2021 Articles

Alphabetical List of Pages Contact Information

Text Search Biblical and Constitutional Politics

Darkness to Light Christian Website

Ethics, Spirituality, Christian Life: Miscellaneous

Books by the Director