Affordability is the Issue, Especially for Childcare
We cannot put the onus on states while making it impossible for them to provide services.
One of my favorite Broadway showtunes features the lyric, “the opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” (Any other RENT-heads out there? Viva La Vie Boheme!). I’ve always envisioned that line to be as much a tribute to the transformative power of art as a nod to the potential of future generations. But President Donald Trump turned that juxtaposition on its head last week when he pitted childcare against his desire to fund the costly, unpopular, and likely unconstitutional war in Iran.
During a private Easter luncheon at the White House, he went on a tirade about how the United States “can’t take care of day care” because “we have to take care of one thing, military protection.” He went on to pin the responsibility solely on the states, sharing that he told Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, “Don’t send any money for day care…. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We’re fighting wars. You got to let a state take care of day care. And they should pay for it, too.”
No doubt, the cost of childcare, which is rising quicker than the overall rate of inflation, is among the starkest of affordability issues affecting families in this country. In many states, the average cost of daycare runs upward of $1,000 a month per child. The U.S. government’s benchmark for what is “affordable” — when less than 7 percent of the household income, for a family with two children, goes toward childcare — amounts to parents having to earn around $400,000 annually to meet that standard.
While on the campaign trail in 2024, Trump responded to a straightforward question from Moms First CEO Reshma Saujani about his commitment to childcare reforms. His answer — a bombastic word salad, of course — went viral as he implied there would be some federal commitment. Not that anyone believed it for a moment. The entire trad-wife meets pronatalist agenda his administration is mired in revolves entirely around the notion that women should not or won’t want to work (even to vote, for that matter), making such policies all but irrelevant to them.
Historically, federal dollars have helped support state-sponsored childcare programs across the country, to which individual states contribute funds as well. In 2025, Congress allocated more than $12 billion vis-à-vis the Child Care and Development Fund. Now Democrats in Congress and in the states are trying to forge meaningful solutions.
Last month, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA), and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) convened a Childcare for America Working Group with the specific aim of delivering modern landmark legislation. Said Murray of the effort: “There’s a split screen in Congress right now: Republicans want to burn money on tax cuts for billionaires and regime change wars…. I’m linking arms with my colleagues to deliver a proposal … to finally fix childcare in America. Americans deserve a more hopeful vision for the future than the Republican plan for government that just funds endless wars and cuts food stamps…. Let’s finally make high-quality, affordable childcare accessible for every working family.” Warren’s 2025 Child Care for Every Community Act may well be part of that effort; built around a federal guarantee of high-quality care, it would cap family payments and ensure wages for childcare workers are comparable to those earned by public school teachers.
A handful of states and municipalities are also advancing the ball. New Mexico is the first (and still only) state to offer universal day care; New York is working to take similar steps. Meanwhile New York City is full steam ahead on an ambitious and highly publicized agenda: thus far, more than 1,000 new 3-K seats as well as 2,000 new 2-K seats are committed for four communities beginning this fall. The city is poised to launch an online childcare map and a suite of interactive tools and central platform to make it easier for families to find and choose childcare that best meets their needs. Cardi B has been tapped to help choose a promotional jingle for these opportunities.
Still, the Trump administration is trying to punish Democratic-led states on the basis of such programs — California, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York among them — suspending federal funding and making false claims about fraud. So far, courts have blocked his efforts.
If we are serious about supporting families and strengthening our workforce — our national security profile too, for that matter (yes, soldiers are also parents) — we cannot put the onus on states while making it impossible for them to provide services.
The Century Foundation recently published an excellent report, States Leading on Child Care Affordability as the Trump Administration Tries to Take Funds Away, that does a great job of demonstrating what effective childcare policy looks like and highlighting states that are making progress: New Mexico and New York are featured, as well as Connecticut and Vermont, which also have taken steps to guarantee public financing to transform their childcare sectors; Arizona, Iowa, and Texas (!) have made progress toward envisioning expanded affordable childcare options. The report notes: “These examples are not comprehensive, but show that investing in child care can be politically feasible in states across the political spectrum. While no state has yet “solved” the child care crisis … the important actions these states have taken serve as a national model and show how other states can expand child care affordability and access.”
As one parent advocate summing up the childcare landscape told the Detroit Free Press: “There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there is also no version of this country thriving while we pretend this isn’t our government’s problem to address.”
Must read: Hillary Clinton’s essay in the New York Times today about making parenthood affordable for Americans and offers a five-point plan “that reflects what’s already working with ideas that could be taken national to help more families”:
“Start with affordability. Parents today are navigating the highest costs in a generation. Child care is one of the largest expenses most families face, while housing and diaper bills chip away at paychecks already stretched thin. For many mothers, income drops sharply right before and after having a child, at the exact same time that costs surge. Mr. Trump’s reckless war in Iran is making that pressure worse, driving up the price of gas, groceries and other necessities.”
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.
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