Democrats are all of a sudden very concerned about how parents vote.
“The one thing that we need to make sure of is that Republicans in 2022 don’t become the party of parents,” former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter told Chuck Todd this week.
Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal later made the case for Democrats being the party of parents, telling a reporter, “I think that Democrats are the party of parents, not Republicans. We are the ones that are looking to pass universal child care, universal pre-K.”
First of all, it is nice that Democrats are voicing a concern for what is a rapidly dwindling slice of the population. In 1960, almost half of all households (48%) contained children under 18. Today, that number is just 28%.
And there is no denying that some of the policies Democrats are pushing could help certain families. While government run preschool has a track record of failure at helping children, it does help single parents and dual-income households with child care costs.
But not all families benefit from the programs Democrats offer parents. If you are a married mother who wants to stay home with their children full-time or go to work part-time, the Democrats offer you nothing.
If you want to send your children to a church day care or a pre-k program, again, the Democrats offer you nothing.
The Democrats have always supported a generous safety net of programs for parents, including Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. But again, these programs only help a certain type of family: single parents. In fact, all of these programs actively punish married families, penalizing them by as much as $10,000 a year.
No wonder married couples prefer the Republican Party.
Not only do married couples prefer to vote for Republicans, but a majority (61%) of Republicans between the ages 18 and 55 actually are parents. By contrast, just 45% of Democrats in the same age group have children under the age of 18.
Now there is more Republicans can do to solidify themselves as the party of parents. First, they could eliminate all the marriage penalties Democrats have put into existing social safety net programs. Second, they could offer parents benefits to help offset the costs of raising our nation’s next generation.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney even has a bill that starts significantly down this road.
Both these bills are good proposals, but if the Republican Party really wants to become the party of parents, they need to make marriage the guiding priority for every issue area. Trade, immigration, taxes, higher education; whatever the issue, Republicans should be asking how this policy makes it easier for young couples to get and stay married.
