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Trump proposal would pay married stay-at-home parents
The Trump administration is currently drafting a new policy that would allow married couples with a stay-at-home parent to collect federal child care subsidies. The plan, championed by Vice President JD Vance, would utilize a Health and Human Services Department fund originally created to help low-income working parents to afford child care for work or school. This would be the first federal subsidy to pay parents to stay home and raise their children, and eligible families could receive approximately $9,000 per child annually. The plan aligns with a broader conservative effort to promote traditional family structures, but critics warn that the shift could worsen the nation's child care crisis by redirecting funds away from the working parents and providers who currently rely on the program. Child and family policy expert Elliott Haspel joins LiveNOW's Andy Mac to discuss the proposal.
The Trump administration has drafted a proposal to pay some married stay-at-home parents, so the parents can dedicate more time to childcare, according to a New York Times report.
Redirecting HHS funds
The plan aims to create a federal subsidy that would pay parents to stay home and raise their children, according to The Times.
FILE - A logo is displayed on the door to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headquarters at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building on August 12, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
Officials are looking to use the Health and Human Services Department’s Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which was originally created in the 1990s to help low-income and working-class parents afford child care.
The new plan would reportedly provide about $9,000 per child each year.
Who could qualify?
- Parents must be married
- One spouse is working at least 35 hours per week
- One spouse is staying home with the kids
- Meet income requirements, which can vary by state
Unmarried couples where one parent stays home wouldn’t qualify, according to The Times.
Single parents who do not work also do not qualify.
Who is receiving CCDF help now?
By the numbers:
There are roughly 994,000 families that received help from CCDF, according to 2023 HHS data.
Of the families who received funds, 35% were living below the Federal Poverty Level.
Families who were receiving funds typically got them through vouchers which could be used toward family child care programs, center-based programs, after-school programs or care through a relative or neighbor.
FOX has reached out to the White House for confirmation and comment.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from reporting by The New York Times, News Nation, and the Health and Human Services Child Care and Development Fund website. This story was reported from San Jose.