What role, if any, should the government play in controlling the costs of childcare . If you have children in child care, 2027488000. If youre a stayathome parent, 2027488001. All others, you can call 2027488002. You can also send us a tweet or leave us a comment on our Facebook Page. The wall street journal recently wrote about this dilemma that parents are facing using some data from the Economic Policy institute. States where day care costs more than college the headline. Now more expensive to educate a fouryearold in preschool than an 18yearold in college in nearly half the country. Care for acost of fouryearold at a fulltime day greaterter or school is than the average cost of instate tuition at a fouryear institution in 23 states. Here are some of the stats for you. The annual cost of childcare is greater than the average cost of instate tuition. The average cost of childcare exceeded 10 of the minimum income for a family of four. Some of the most expensive states include massachusetts were the annual cost is 12,781. York, 11,700. Averaging 11,502 per year. Minnesota, 11,119 a year. That is a cost for a fouryearold at a fulltime center or preschool. Which of the government be doing, if anything, and reducing Childcare Costs thats what should the government be doing . Jeffrey from virginia, stayathome parent. Good morning to you. Should the government be involved in paying for child care . Caller absolutely. It can be a situation where they are a single parent who is the provider. The parent providing the , the government should implement a certain tax write. Ff it is very costly and expensive, especially where the economics is not in a certain recovery frame where people got the proper educational background to be employed in a job, it has to theres ation where memorandum of understanding. In a well providing environment for growth, love and support while the other parent is working. I think it should balance out. Children . Old are your did you make an economic decision to stay at home with the children . Caller my child is 10 years old , one is nine. Opportunity is balancing out for what i am there arent too many jobs and machinery plans in North Carolina that are open up to my experience, what i have. You try to minimize that by taking what you can get. Immigrants are taking a lot of these jobs in North Carolina. Host that is jeffrey in virginia. Heres the cost of childcare in virginia according to the Economic Policy institute. 10,450 for infant care. Definitely a high figure there. This issue is resonating on the campaign trail. , zoomingrom bloomberg Childcare Costs on more trump, clinton positioning. The republican nominees strategy of employing Tax Exemptions is missing the point of the goals to help low income workers. Few workers in those income levels even take deductions. Donald trump said this allowing lower income americans to deducted from their payroll taxes. Hillary clinton has embraced a laundry list of possible solutions, including prekindergarten for all fouryearold free kindergarten for all fouryearolds. Here is a bit from the candidates themselves, talking about Childcare Costs. [video clip] my plan will also help reduce the cost of childcare by allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of childcare spending from their taxes. As part of this new future, we will also be rolling out proposals to increase choice and reduce cost in childcare, offering muchneeded relief to american families. They are suffering. We are going to get them this muchneeded relief. Now, we will also hear from Hillary Clinton who also address this issue on the campaign trail as well. [video clip] Hillary Clinton women are now the sole or primary breadwinner in a growing number of families. More americans are cobbling together parttime work or , so weg out on their own have to make it easier to be good workers, good parents and caregivers. Ive set out a bold vision to make quality, affordable childcare available to all americans and limit the cost to 10 of family income. [applause] clinton on monday, trump offered his first real idea on this topic because previously, he had dismissed concerns about childcare. Not an expensive thing because you just need some box and some swings. Now, he wants to exclude Childcare Costs from taxation. It transparently is designed for rich people like him. He would give wealthy families . 30 or . 40 on the dollar for their nannies and little to families. R working i think instead we should expand the Child Tax Credit to provide real relief to tens of millions of working families struggling with the cost of raising children. Host what should the governments role be in reducing Childcare Costs . If you are a working parent, you can call 2027488000. Stayathome parent, 2027488001. All others, the line is 2027488002. Frederick, maryland. Daniel is on the line for working parents. Good morning to you. Caller my only question was about weve heard what both candidates have four children that are in prek and older. Have any of them said anything about what theyre doing for children below the age of prek . Right now, i have one child in daycare, he is three years old. It is 250 a week. Sixmontholde a who we are trying to work out, one parent off the day, one parent on a day. His would be 300 a week. Host how much of a burden is they caree cost cost for your family, daniel family,cost for your daniel . Caller more than the mortgage payment. Host does the issue of childcare make a difference in which candidate you support . Caller yes, because going forward, if we decide we want to have more children, we have to plan for the future, we have to see where our options are down the road. It could be too expensive for you to even have a child anymore. A Little Information from the Economic Policy institute, the average annual cost of infant care in maryland, 13,932 a year. South dakota, mary on the line for stayathome parents. Good morning to you. Caller i was a stayathome mom for quite a few years. The stayathome parent should be entitled to some type of tax break as opposed to just having to pay for child care if you are working. Youd away, you are out the money. Thats either way, you are out the money. I wanted to make it sound a little more fair. You cannot expect people to take care of your child for free. They are there earning a living by taking care of your child. It has to be fair for everybody. Richard from bellmore, new york on the line for all others. Good morning. Caller hi. I have a novel idea. ,f people want to have children maybe they should plan it out and only have the children they can afford to have. Why does everybody have to depend on the government to support them . Parents are supposed to support the children, not the government. Host a few comments from twitter. In arkansas, it is all about homeschooling. It is a real moneymaker. We have a retirement home for seniors who take care of kids. I think it is a perfect solution for preschoolers and the retired. Rob from victoria, texas. A working parent. Good morning to you. Are you there . On to paul from hermitage, tennessee. , what im concern always thinking of, look at the many people you remember many years ago how much they pay people. Now, look how expensive things the middle class has been left behind. A lot of jobs will go away. Afford u going to nothing, no increment. We dont have money. They do not increase our salaries in the middle class. That is where we are. If we dont have money, how are you going to support your children . Dr. Carraway from greensburg, North Carolina on the line for all others. Go ahead. Caller good morning. I did some research on this and look at the figures of the federal government subsidies in , 84 billion by 21 of the re ilisted on thei compare that to what other and ies have popped up services the prepay for vehicles the Insurance Companies know the right way to do this. They invested the premiums into repairs d to cover they should turn daycare into a prepaid plan, paying a premium ome company that can turn that premium funding into a , doing some kind of discount for parents that have. Ore than one child maybeyou are saying create a Prepaid Program for childcare, preschool, similar to the way we have it for college . Like prepay car warranties, house warranties that you pay monthly premiums with that. That covers, down the line, repairs as needed. Premium eacht same and put the funding in the trust fund to do other investments that you pay for the monthly costs. Host a few comments from facebook we asked the question on our Facebook Page and here are your responses another person writes on facebook lets hear from steve in clifton park, new york. Steve is a working parent. Good morning, steve. Caller good morning. Wife both work full time. About, for one child when he was first born, we were paying about 320 a week , about 1000 more than our mortgage was. It is pretty high cost theres not much help from the government. Im not saying the government should help or say as far as taxes actions go, there is literally nothing. Go mother isions literally nothing. Tax exemptions go, there is literally nothing. Andre paying 17,000 a year get nothing. If a child is four years old, theres public solutions, theres always options. Its impossible for the average person to make it without going into debt. Needs to be serious tax reductions put in place. Place. Ctions put in host how do you make it work for your family . Caller to be honest, a lot of juggling, racking up debt here and there. I will have to get a second job. It is three jobs between the two of us. That means less time with my family. Im not looking forward to that. Society is just not prepared for this. They are ignoring the problem. The Student Loan Debt and all , its just going to be a disaster. According to the Economic PolicyInstitute New york is one of the most expensive states for child care. 11,700, second highest state in the country. From rochester, minnesota, greg is calling on the line for all others. Good morning. Caller good morning. I went to pick up my two sons, im separated from my sons mother. Month. S, 2500 a my ex is making 12 an hour. She should never be accepted into a daycare that charges that much the daycare are a big racket. The government is paying 6070 of the childcare to these thinkers. S. To these daycare they know they are going to get paid from the government. That is why they accept people who make 12 an hour. Theyve been going there for two years. Kids. A month for two the mother is making 12 an hour. By which even be accepted into a daycare like that . Daynt to pick them up one how much does she pay . She is paying 300 a month. The government is paying 2200 a month. Paid, so ofting course, they are going to accept or. Her. Cept ist what Government Program the childrens mother paying for their childcare with . Here. the county you should do a topic one day on payments that fathers are being charged. It is really ridiculous. What would a mother need 1300 for two boys . Host another comment from facebook. One person writes from raleigh, North Carolina. Leonard is calling on the line for working parents. What is your thought . Caller good morning. The whole situation is really, really complicated. I have a son and a daughter. Not only did they have me on a waiting list and i was number 960 something before i could even fill out the application to they limitedycare, the daycares i could go to come it was an 80 nonrefundable fee per child. It was 3400 dollars per child child per month. While im going through the process of waiting to even put an application my could not i could not work. I spent money for that. With you have to stay home the children while the wait for them to get a spot in day care. Caller that is correct. That made the situation even more difficult because its already expensive, but now that im having to stay home until i care, itsm in day missing all the money up missing all the money up. Messing all the money appup. Host are you hearing anything from either candidate caller it seems like they bounce around the issue as far as giving you something host madison, virginia is our next caller. Good morning to you. I am a senior and i volunteer at a Learning CenterDay Care Center in the town. The federal government gave a grant to the seniors who iact with the children havent been going too much lately because there is a sign on the door saying two of the children have lice, so the director did not want to expose us. Daycare should be a last resort. There are so many out of wedlock births and these kids are being dumped and they know when they are being dumped. You have a lot of troubled families, emotionally disturbed kids. They have to look back to the should be taught to respect girls, not getting girls pregnant when they are 15, 16. Grandparents are raising them, the parents just arent responsible or capable of raising these children. Increaset is going to more and more kids having kids. And the government will pick up the tab. Host baton rouge, louisiana. Line for stayathome parents. Good morning, terrence. My thought is similar to leonards. It lady that just called is rough on our kids and everything i had to stop my. Ob my wife has been working nonstop. We have three kids. Expensive, we so cannot get them in so i can go to work. The government should be looking at the situation to help us parents out. Thefix this problem parents that want to work to ife, that isids l more important to people out here. Host a few comments from twitter martha is now on the line from metairie, louisiana. Caller good morning. Im from a family of 15 back them and i was born in 1952. We did not qualify for any kind of help from food stamps or anything that is so popular. We had one relative and they took shifts. I think we should basically have like china where you where the government says you can should only have one or two and thats it. Host one or two children only . Where yes, especially the snap program goes pretty. One lady take out a baby in the Shopping Center and another one for over five. I wonder what that is like because how can i not afforded . Either volunteering family members or in school, they will i believe a building where parents can volunteer their time. Somehow, that works. They volunteer. They would use a public building or something where there is screens and film and everything. What im trying to say is mimic the funds. There is still time to get your thoughts in. Here are the numbers to dial to share your opinion on what the governments role in child care costs should be. You can also send us 88. And we are on facebook. You can send us a tweet. Na from bowie, maryland is our next caller on the line for working parents. Good morning. Caller good morning. Im calling because i can sympathize with the plight of who are working either an hourly wage or dont 50 or 60,000 you get my husband and i have a combined income of over 300,000 per year and. When we had our youngest child, forg 1600 per month just her and another 1000 per month for my middle child and then we made it is to send our Oldest School towas in high a private Catholic High School where we were paying another 800 per month. Im talking about 3000 per month or more just in day care and private school costs. I am not looking for any sympathy because i agree that the cost of childcare i think is appropriate in that we are putting people attached to education when people need income to live. Agree that the tax break for childcare needs to be significantly increased. Sad that i cannot get a tax credit and i can only get a 5,000 pretax in terms of attendant care of its flexible spending. I have not heard either candidate at as this childcare will almost bankrupt you. I think the cost is fair. Thats my comment. Comment oned facebook from cleveland, ohio, on the line for all others. What do you think . I am an administrator at a school. We are getting paid what we are worth. We are not considered teachers even though we have to have the education. I know how expensive it is for families. Be excellent,uld more than the 20 they get paid now. Most of our children are subsidized children. They have a lot of issues and we deal with a lot of problems. My point is that neither pinpointedas really this issue. It really needs to be addressed. What is a Government Program that subsidizes the children at your facility . Part ofthe county pays the day care. We only have like eight children and have a copay and the rest out of 100 kids the rest of them, we have maybe five private payees because its so expensive. The rest of them, the county pays for. Caller is from, lorton, virginia. Good morning. Morning, i would like to posit that if you look thehe constitution responsibilities of the government, there is nothing in the constitution where the government has any responsibility for childcare. Thes the first point and ,econd point is the progressive the democrats, the liberals, they are always preaching that the government needs to stay out of the bedroom when it comes to , but they samesex seek intervention on day care and health care. There is an in congruently there. There is a conflict between in somesitions where, areas, they want to get in the bedroom, in the house but in some areas they want to stay out. The last point i would like to is that many of the second and third world countries, there are no Day Care Centers at all. They have extended families. They have grandparents and uncles and cousins. How are they able to manage andout any Day Care Centers still have great lives with these young children. Right, next caller is ricky from muskegon, michigan calling on the line for stayathome parents. I am a hello, stayathome dad. Before he became a dad, i used to work in the Day Care Center. Wes to have a state run Day Care Center. Got taken andnds they closed down the