My Plan for Family Affordability
Announcing the birth of my daughter.
Every day, across the Eighth District, I hear the same thing: raising a family in Massachusetts, particularly in and around Boston, has become impossibly expensive. Right now, the average annual cost of infant care in Massachusetts is over $26,709 – that is out of reach for most families, and among the most expensive in the country. That is more than tuition at UMass, and the increases in recent years are out of control.
This crisis is personal for me. My wife and I recently welcomed our daughter into the world and, like every parent across our district, we’re confronting these crushing costs firsthand. Too many families I know are leaving Massachusetts or deciding not to move out of the state or not have children at all because they simply can’t afford it. The lack of affordable childcare options leads to older Americans sacrificing more of their time to help with childcare, and ultimately makes our economy far less productive than it could be.
We need comprehensive federal action to make raising a family affordable again.
My Plan for Family Affordability
Accessible, Guaranteed, and Affordable Childcare
If elected, I would champion creative and bold proposals to make childcare universally accessible and affordable nationwide.
Building on efforts led by Senator Warren and Representative Katherine Clark, I would prioritize legislation to do the following:
I believe working families earning below $100,000 in Massachusetts should pay nothing for childcare. Zero dollars.
For families above that threshold, costs should be capped at 7% of family income. A family making $150,000 would pay no more than $10,500 annually—not the crushing $26,000+ families are paying now.
And we should build toward a system where every family earning under $250,000 pays no more than $10 a day for quality childcare—just $200 a month.
We also need to increase supply. To actually create enough childcare spots, I’ll push for direct federal grants between $100,000 and $500,000 for providers opening new centers in communities that desperately need them, and champion the “Child Care Innovation Fund” proposed by Rep. Ro Khanna. I’ll work to expand Small Business Administration loans to nonprofit childcare providers and advocate for federal construction bonds specifically for childcare facilities—because childcare is infrastructure, just like roads and bridges.
Finally, the people who care for our children deserve professional wages. I’ll fight for requirements that providers receiving federal funds pay their teachers comparably to K-12 teachers. We should forgive $10,000 in student loans every year for early childhood educators and offer recruitment bonuses to bring qualified professionals into the field.
Universal Paid Family Leave
Massachusetts proves that paid family leave works. Since 2021, our state has guaranteed up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and 20 weeks of medical leave, with workers receiving up to 80% of their wages. It covers everyone—full-time, part-time, even contract workers—and it’s funded through a small payroll contribution that businesses and workers have successfully managed.
I’ll fight to bring the Massachusetts model nationwide. Every American worker deserves what we’ve already achieved here—12 weeks of guaranteed paid family leave, regardless of whether you work for a corporation or small business, whether you’re salaried or hourly.
Expanded Child Tax Credit: Monthly Support for Every Family
The expanded Child Tax Credit during the pandemic cut child poverty nearly in half and put money directly in parents’ pockets. I’ll fight to restore and make permanent an expanded Child Tax Credit of $300 per month for children under 6 and $250 per month for children 6-17. This means $3,600 per year for young children and $3,000 for older children—direct deposits into your bank account every month to help with groceries, school supplies, clothes, and everything else kids need.
Universal Pre-K for Every 3 and 4-Year-Old
Every child deserves quality early education. I will push to support communities that have already started to roll out universal pre-K, like Boston, and support legislation to ramp up universal Pre-K access in every community, ensuring all families have access to high-quality early learning programs regardless of income.
Strengthening Head Start and Early Head Start
Head Start is a huge success we need to scale up. Currently, Head Start only serves 36% of eligible preschoolers and just 11% of eligible infants and toddlers. We need to fully fund these programs to serve every eligible child, not just those lucky enough to win a lottery.