Stimulus Update: You May Be Shocked by the Amount the U.S. Will Pay for Not Passing the American Families Plan

Change is scary, but doing nothing is expensive.

For decades, parents have faced a pressing question: How do I pay for childcare so I can work? The average cost of full-time childcare in the U.S. is over $11,000 a year. In Washington D.C., the price of full-time infant care averages more than $24,000. Unless a parent has a six-figure income, it's difficult to see how they might manage that cost.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income for a woman in the U.S. is $916 per week, or just shy of $48,000 per year. For men, it is slightly less than $1,100 per week, or around $57,000. After paying taxes, contributing to a retirement fund (if they are able), and covering monthly bills, there's little left in the bank account to pay for daycare. Still, millions of parents try to make it work.

What passage of the American Families Plan would provide

Not to be confused with the recently passed, scaled-down Inflation Reduction Act, the American Families Plan seeks to help Americans take care of those they love. Here are some of the ways parents and children would benefit:

• Three- and four-year-olds would receive free, universal pre-K
• A national paid family and medical leave program would provide workers with up to 80% of wage replacement for 12 weeks. This means that when a child or close relative is seriously ill, you're ill, or you're dealing with the death of a loved one, you would have access to compassionate leave.
• A sliding-scale system would ensure that most families do not pay more than 7% of their income toward childcare for children under the age of 5.

If it is not passed

According to ReadyNation and the Council for a Strong America, failure to make reforms will cost the U.S. an estimated $57 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.

Nearly two-thirds of parents who face childcare struggles report leaving work early. More than 50% report being distracted or missing full days of work. A full 86% of parents said that problems with childcare negatively impacted their efforts or time commitment at work.

It's not that parents do not want to work. It's that it's difficult to concentrate on what they're doing when they don't have dependable, safe daycare available.

In an op-ed for Ms., U.S. Representative Jackie Speier writes that for every $1 invested in early childhood education, there is a $4 to $9 return to society over a child's lifetime.

Opposition is fierce

Not a single Republican lawmaker supports the American Families Plan, and conservative news organizations across the board have condemned it. Dave Ramsey's blog, Ramsey Solutions, complains that the plan will raise taxes on the rich. Ramsey is concerned that families earning $400,000 or more will see a tax increase. He (or whoever writes his articles) also decries the fact that people earning more than $1 million annually might see their capital gains tax rate jump to 39.6% (which, according to the Tax Foundation, is slightly less than it was from 1976 to 1978).

Other countries prove that it is possible

The GOP has gotten into the habit of labeling those who propose helping poor- and middle-class families thrive as "socialists." The trouble is, it's not true. Take a look at a partial list of countries that pay for extended, paid family leave, early childhood education, and daycare.

• Norway
• Finland
• Germany
• Canada
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Poland
• France
• Luxembourg
• Belgium
• Austria
• Ireland
• Netherlands

Are taxes higher in some of these countries? Yes, but children have access to the care and education they need to become contributing members of society. It would be possible to do the same for American families -- if only the proper support was there.