John Kerry's position on

Children and Families: As many children have single, working parents or two working parents, its is important to look at children in relationship to the family unit, and what can be done to make it easier for families, both materially and psychologically.

Description of position: Kerry feels that work commitments may be interfering with the family unit, and proposes both educational and economic solutions. First, Kerry supports an increase in after-school programs, with programs open until 6 p.m. and offering educational instruction (such as mentoring, drug prevention, and tutoring). Secondly, he would increase the Child Care Tax Credit by $2000 and make it eligible as a tax credit to moderate income families and stay-at-home parents who have infants. The funding for this program will come from repealing tax credits for families with incomes over $200,000. Additionally, he wants to strengthen the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so that these opportunities are more readily available. Link

Quotation: "We're going to help families balance the demands of work and family by expanding tax credits for child care--making them refundable for lower-income families, and offering them to stay-at-home parents with infants. We're going to expand afterschool opportunities so millions more working parents will know that their children are in a safe, good place. And we will strengthen the FMLA. We believe in an America where strong, healthy families build a stronger America. We know that government doesn't raise children - parents do. We believe that together, we can put government back on the side of America's families and build an America where every family can look to the future with hope." Statement on Anniversary of FMLA, August 5, 2004, Kerry's website

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: Karen Kornbluh, the Director of Work and Family Program, New America Foundation, supports Kerry's initiative as it recognizes the connection between work and family: "Kerry announced new after-school and child care tax credit initiatives […] The emphasis on families and the pressures on them is exactly right. American families are experiencing a "family budget shock" as a result of three reinforcing trends: stagnating incomes, increasing fixed costs and declining benefit coverage. These reform proposals directly address the family's bottom line and the level of care they can provide their kids." June 16, 2004 NAF publication link

Negative: Alan Reynolds, a fellow of the Cato Institute, argues that Kerry will not have enough money to pay for the new programs such as child care tax credit, because that money is already allocated to other programs, such as "various spending plans, like expanding the Army and investing public money in private firms," which would cause a trade-off among other programs. August 10, 2004 Cato Institute Publication link

Comparison: While Kerry sees education, working families income levels, and family and children's needs as an ongoing problem, President Bush states that these issues are already being addressed by legislation such as the tax credit, No Child Left Behind Act, and the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Link

Link to Bush's issue brief