This Is What You Need to Know About Ivanka Trump’s Childcare Plan
Ivanka Trump has been in the spotlight since arriving in Washington DC for many of the wrong reasons. She and her husband, Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner, have done some good, like their taking down of an anti-LGBT executive order, but by and large, scandal has plagued the surrogate first lady. With stores across the country dropping her signature brand, we have, for the most part, not heard much from the formerly successful business woman. But that doesn’t mean that Ivanka hasn’t been busy.
Last week, the first-daughter went before the House and the Senate with a plan to give tax breaks to families paying for childcare. Under her proposed plan, dual income families would see a hefty tax break dependent on their income and if both parents are working. For example, any couple making under $500,000 per year could deduct the cost of their childcare from their income tax. While at first, this seems like a great idea, the numbers tell a different story.
Ivanka’s plan heavily favors the richest people in the country, who have higher incomes and are often dual income families. Since the tax break is based on income, those who make more money and pay more for childcare would get greater tax cuts. Low income families would have little to no benefit from her proposal, because not only is the cost of childcare astronomical these days, but if you make a low wage, you wouldn’t even really qualify for the real benefit of the tax break.
On top of all the questions about who gets to benefit most from Ivanka’s proposed plan, it would actually cost the government $500 billion dollars over the course of a decade. What’s another way to say $500 billion? Half a trillion dollars! With plenty of tax breaks being offered, we aren’t sure how anyone can afford to pay for this, and while we’re on board with better maternity leave benefits for all Americans, it’s clear that like many other Trump policies, the current structure of this plan would specifically favor the Trump family and their friends above everyone else. Maybe they’ll take criticism into account and, in a later iteration of the plan, it’ll be more friendly to lower-income families, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Would you be able to take advantage of Ivanka’s proposed plan? Tell us @BritandCo!
(h/t Marie Claire; Photos via Pool + Mark Wilson/Getty)