Moms have momentum on our side. Now let’s turn it into action.
2024 was America’s first child care election.
This cycle, moms came together and organized to make child care a marquee issue that defined races up and down the ballot. We pushed for — and heard — questions on the presidential and vice presidential debate stages. We asked for promises from campaigns everywhere. We saw bipartisan consensus begin to emerge.
Now that the election has been decided, our work isn’t over. We’ve got momentum on our side. If anything, this is the moment when moms must demand more.
Because no matter who’s sitting in the Oval Office, child care was and is a critical economic issue — and it must be a priority in the first 100 days of the next administration.
We don’t have to tell you: Child care costs are obscene. Unlike most wealthy countries, the United States invests a paltry amount in child care: around 0.2 percent of its GDP for kids two and under. The rest of that cost then falls to parents. For many families, more than half (sometimes as much as 70 percent) of our income goes to care expenses. Every year, the crushing cost of child care forces 134,000 families into poverty. Many Americans pay more for child care than rent.
As any parent will tell you, child care isn’t some second (or third, or fourth) tier priority; it’s the issue that keeps them up at night. When families look at their budget line items for the month, it’s not just the cost of eggs that’s holding them back, of course. It’s child care.
JD Vance and Donald Trump have acknowledged as much themselves. During the child care portion of the vice presidential debate, Vance conceded: “We’re going to have to spend more money.” And when I asked Trump in a now-viral moment at the Economic Club what his plan on child care was, even he admitted, amidst a stream of incoherent ramblings about tariffs, “You have to have it.”
To a lot of moms, this might sound like a whole lot of lip service. We’ve seen parents’ priority policies — child care, paid leave, etc. — get left on the cutting room floor time and time again. No one would be one bit surprised if, come January, the Trump-Vance administration does what many have done before them: tell us they simply can’t find the funds.
We need this time to be different. The first 100 days of the incoming Trump-Vance administration is the perfect time to hold them accountable for all their past promises. Want to prove your commitment to “family values”? Want to make a real difference on families’ finances? Take meaningful action on child care.
Investing in public child care infrastructure is simply a winning economic strategy. Voters understand that and are already buying in on a local level. In Travis County, Texas, voters approved a property tax increase that will help increase access to child care, afterschool, and summer programming for thousands of families. In Sonoma County, California, voters approved a sales tax to generate $30 million annually to fund child care and other child development programs.
Let’s be clear: The child crisis is a systemic issue that requires systemic solutions — not just grandparents stepping up, as Vance once suggested. We should take inspiration from the urgent and decisive action the government took during the pandemic, when no one could avoid confronting the impact of child care costs and shortages on families and providers.
So here’s my message to moms: Don’t settle for empty words, or vague commitments that won’t make a difference in our families’ lives. As the Trump-Vance administration takes office, let’s hold them accountable to keep their promise to reduce the price of child care for families.
Let’s agitate for higher pay for providers. Let’s continue to make the business case for child care, and push government to incentivize companies to provide employees with care options. And, as always, let’s fight for universal child care as our North Star.
As we look ahead to the first 100 days of this administration — and the four years that will follow — let’s be relentless in our pursuit of real, tangible change. We’ll hold the Trump-Vance administration to their word — and demand more.
Remember: The fight for child care doesn’t end when the election cycle does. It ends when child care is accessible and affordable everywhere. And we’re not giving up anytime soon.
Reshma Saujani is a leading activist, the founder of Girls Who Code, and the founder and CEO of Moms First, a national nonprofit organization.
