Don't turn safety net programs into social engineering

The Trump-Vance administration wants to make married families that have a stay-at-home parent eligible for payments from the Child Care and Development Fund. Under the reported rule, low- and moderate-income married couples could claim roughly $9,000 per child if one spouse works at least 35 hours a week and the other stays home and earns no income.

The time parents spend with their children is indispensable and should be encouraged, but this proposal would upend the CCDF’s original purpose and open the door to replacing the social safety net with social engineering.