Trump Admin Drafts Childcare Aid for Stay-at-Home

The Trump administration is drafting a policy that would, for the first time, allow married couples with a stay-at-home parent to receive federal childcare subsidies, a significant shift in a program historically designed to help working parents afford outside care. The proposed change, championed by Vice President JD Vance, would redirect funds from the $12 billion Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) to support a new category of "parent-based childcare." Under the draft rule, a married couple could qualify for assistance if one spouse works at least 35 hours per week and the other stays home to care for their child. The subsidy, which typically provides about $9,000 per child annually, would be intended to offset the income lost by the stay-at-home parent. The proposal would not require new legislation from Congress and could take effect as early as next year after a public comment period. The CCDF was created in the 1990s to help low- and moderate-income parents afford childcare so they could work, attend school, or receive job training. It currently subsidizes care for about 1.3 million children up to age 13 across roughly 870,000 families.