JD Vance's plan to lower childcare costs: have grandma and grandpa 'help a little bit more'

• JD Vance said in recent remarks that older family members could step in to help with childcare.
• It was part of his solution to address high childcare costs in the US.
• It comes as many older Americans are facing financial stress as they enter retirement.

JD Vance's plan to tackle high childcare costs might not take into account the looming retirement crisis facing millions of older Americans.

During a discussion with Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative organization Turning Point Action, former President Donald Trump's VP pick Vance addressed the issue of high childcare costs in the US.

It's an issue many parents and families are contending with — a recent report from Bank of America found that the average US couple spends over 30% of their combined wages on childcare costs.

When Kirk asked how Vance planned to address the issue, Vance suggested extended family members step in to relieve the financial burden on parents.

"One of the ways that you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for daycare is, maybe grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there's an aunt or uncle that wants to help out a little bit more," Vance told Kirk. "If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we're spending on daycare."

Vance clarified his remarks in a post on X on Thursday following criticism of his original comments. He said in the post that "parents or grandparents might not be able to help, but they might want to, and for those families, federal policy should not be forcing one particular family model." He also emphasized that there should be more accessible educational routes for people to get into the childcare field.

A Vance spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Vance has previously spoken about how his mother-in-law took a yearlong sabbatical from her job as a biology professor in California to live with Vance and his wife to take care of their newborn son. Vance noted that their child was born just seven weeks before his wife, who's an attorney, began a judicial clerkship. In that conversation, Vance agreed with his interviewer that taking care of grandchildren is "the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female."

But for many, helping raise grandchildren or a niece or nephew just isn't feasible. For one thing, many older Americans are struggling with economic headwinds as they approach retirement, leaving many of them without the time and financial resources to help with childcare needs. The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey found that over half of respondents over 65 had incomes of under $30,000 in 2022, leaving them to rely primarily on Social Security. For many Americans that BI has spoken to, that's not enough — leaving some to return to work.

At the same time, some millennial and Gen Z parents have left family "villages" behind for cheaper housing. The changing demographics of the labor market might also mean those family members are already booked. Linda, a 64-year-old retiree, is moving closer to one of her children — but not so she can help take care of anyone. Rather, her kids are part of her safety net; she knows that they'll look out for her.

"I fully see myself working for the next 20-some years — if I have that many left. Whatever years I have left, I will not be enjoying the retirement life in Florida," Linda said.

Lowering the cost of childcare

In his response to Kirk's question, Vance also argued that daycare would be more affordable if states didn't require that childcare workers get a "ridiculous certification that has nothing to do with taking care of kids." He added, "What we need to do is actually empower people to get trained in the skills that they need for the 21st century."

Not many states require childcare workers to have college degrees or certifications. But he might have been referring to a new law in the nation's capital that requires many childcare workers to have a two-year associate degree, among other training. Republicans in Congress have taken issue with DC's law and Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah introduced a bill this summer that would repeal portions of it.

Costs aren't just prohibitive for parents; they're also sky-high for childcare providers, who operate on tiny margins and struggle to pay their workers a living wage. Burdensome government regulations, including land-use laws, are part of why childcare services are so costly to operate. But aside from stripping away some of these rules, childcare providers say they need the government to cut the cost of starting and operating a business.

"In our ideal world, it would cost nothing for providers to go into business — the background checks, the trainings, the licensing would all be cost-free," Laurie Furstenfeld, an attorney at the Berkeley, California-based Child Care Law Center, told Business Insider last year. "The cost of parents would be heavily subsidized or publicly funded."

Childcare centers already faced their own funding cliff when pandemic-era funds ran out, with several telling BI that they couldn't hike tuitions even more — but still needed to try to pay their teachers a living wage with fewer resources.

While Vance has expressed support for an expanded child tax credit, which would help parents pay for growing costs, he skipped a recent vote on a Senate bill to extend the credit. The bill failed after Republicans voted against it. Vance has condemned universal childcare, calling it a subsidy for the affluent and "class war against normal people."

"We try to force or at least subsidize one model on every family in this country," Vance wrote in his clarification on X. "And if you open up kinship and other options for families, you will relieve some pressure on the daycare system in this country."

Are you dealing with tough decisions on childcare, eldercare, or retirement? Share your story with these reporters at asheffey@businessinsider.com, jkaplan@businessinsider.com, and erelman@businessinsider.com.