As the debate intensifies over expanding the child tax credit, the nation finds itself at a crossroads in how we value paid and unpaid work. Vice President Kamala Harris has made an expanded child tax credit a central part of her presidential campaign, while former president Donald Trump touts having doubled the credit during his presidency. On the surface, this may seem like a rare bipartisan agreement. However, the similarities between the two plans mask critical differences in who benefits and how. Harris’s plan aims to provide greater support to low-income families, while Trump’s plan primarily benefits middle- and upper-income households by excluding many of the poorest children.
As a mother and entrepreneur, I’ve often shared this belief in my advocacy, Care is the infrastructure that makes all other work possible. From founding Care.com and my current work at Ohai.ai, I’ve seen firsthand how caregiving impacts families, especially women and low-income households. Whether provided by professionals or done at home, caregiving is fundamental to the functioning of our society. Yet it remains persistently undervalued — viewed as a private responsibility instead of the essential labor that it is. Globally, Oxfam estimates that women perform $10.9 trillion worth of unpaid care work each year, with women spending an average of 4.6 hours per day on unpaid care tasks compared to 2.8 hours for men.
The COVID-19 pandemic made the critical role of caregiving impossible to ignore. Corporate leaders, who may have once overlooked this work, suddenly experienced its absence up close. As the virus spread, some nannies, housekeepers, and caregivers were unable to work due to health risks and lockdown measures, while day care centers and schools shuttered their doors. Families took on these roles themselves, and on Zoom, we saw children in meetings and blurred lines between professional life and care work. As Bryan Stevenson, founder of Equal Justice Initiative, emphasizes, “proximity” forces us to see and understand otherwise hidden issues.
Caring for children is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and critical to our future. Yet, in policy discussions, unpaid caregiving is often invisible, especially when done by low-income parents. Limiting the child tax credit to families who already earn enough to owe taxes ignores the reality that many parents—particularly mothers—are forced to stay out of the workforce because of the high cost of child care. These parents aren’t choosing not to work; they’re working in a different, unpaid capacity that our economy still fails to acknowledge.
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Research shows that high-quality early childhood care has significant, long-lasting benefits. As reported by Brookings, children who receive quality early care are more likely to be ready for school, perform better academically, and achieve higher graduation rates. The long-term benefits include better-earning potential and a reduced risk of poverty in adulthood. Investing in early childhood care provides an economic return of $4 to $13 for every $1 spent, demonstrating its value to families and the broader economy.
Harris’s proposal to expand the child tax credit would provide critical financial support to families whether the parents work outside the home or manage full-time caregiving responsibilities. This support is particularly crucial for low-income families, who often balance the care of young children with precarious jobs. The idea that only taxpayers should benefit from a child tax credit overlooks the essential labor happening inside homes across the country.
Although eleven states have passed paid family and medical leave laws, the U.S. is one of only a few countries that does not offer federal paid family leave. This reflects a broader cultural problem: Society fails to recognize caregiving as a critical part of the US economy. Paid family leave and an expanded child tax credit are two sides of the same coin. Both are about supporting families in raising the next generation. They are about allowing parents to make the best decisions for their families without sacrificing their financial security.
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During the pandemic, a temporary expansion of the child tax credit helped lift millions of children out of poverty, cutting child poverty in the U.S. by more than half. But when efforts to extend it failed, poverty rates rose again. This shows that supporting families—particularly those with the least resources—is not just a moral imperative but an economic one.
The expanded child tax credit isn’t a handout. It’s a recognition that caregiving, in all its forms, is work. By supporting parents, whether they work outside the home or within it, we invest in our children’s future and our economy. Paid family leave is equally critical in giving families the time and financial security they need to care for loved ones without economic hardship. It’s time to recognize the full value of caregiving and ensure that all families, regardless of income, get the help they need through paid leave and a robust child tax credit.
Sheila Lirio Marcelo is founder of Care.com and cofounder and CEO of Ohai.ai.