During the vice presidential debate , Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) called for expanding federal subsidies to increase access to child care. As he put it, “We’re going to have to spend more money.”
I agree that the cost of child care is a huge problem. Once upon a time, I was a speechwriter in his running mate’s White House. Now, I’m a stay-at-home dad in Omaha, Nebraska, who left the workforce to care for my children when our daycare options became too expensive.
But while Vance is right that families deserve more child care options, expanding subsidies won’t solve the problem. In fact, it will more likely make it worse — by driving up costs and reducing access. We don’t need more government money in child care. What families such as mine really need is less red tape and more of our hard-earned money left in our pockets.
After all, we’ve seen what expanding subsidies has done in other areas. In higher education, the government’s endless supply of student loan dollars has caused tuition prices to skyrocket — up more than 140% in the last 20 years alone, far outpacing wage growth.