The US Presidential Election and Early Childhood Education
The recent presidential election gave the country two very different options for leadership of the country. Both candidates have addressed questions about the US education system, but what does the recent race mean for the early childhood education system in particular? Today we reflect on some of the promises made by both candidates, and think about how we can expect President-elect Trump to be thinking about early childhood education issues going forward.
The participation of women in the workforce has grown from 47% in 1975 to 70% today, as has the cost of childcare, growing 25% in the last decade. The majority of American households are spending more than 10% of their annual household income on childcare. With the bills piling up and wages stagnating it’s no surprise that families struggle to cope with the burden of early care costs that, in most states, surpass that of college tuition.
Leading up to the election we heard from both candidates on how they planned to affect change in the childcare domain. While their approaches differ, they align in their recognition of a need to help new mothers and provide care that is more affordable and accessible to American families. In doing a quick comparison of how our two candidates planned to alleviate these financial burdens on young families, we can take stock of what’s in store for America’s childcare system.
Name | Trump | Clinton |
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Maternity Leave |
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Taxes and Funding |
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Accessibility |
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With the election behind us, we can now focus on Trump’s overall goals for childcare: helping families with the costs, empowering them to choose the care that’s right for them, and ensuring access to options in family-, community-, and workplace-based solutions. There are a number of variables that make it difficult to assess which plan will save American families more money. Household income, the number of children in each family, their age, and parent employment status all play a factor. What we do know is that the rising cost of childcare and accessibility to families is an ever- growing concern. Closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots is crucial in ensuring that children and families are coming out of these critical early years on the right foot.
Ron is the Co-Founder of Lillio a social-purpose business that helps early childhood educators improve learning outcomes for children.
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Ron Spreeuwenberg
November 12th, 2016
3 mins
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