Why Republicans Say No to Child Care: It’s Not About Budgets—It’s About Control
Dear Reader,
Let’s talk about what’s really behind the Republican refusal to support child care. It’s not the budget. It’s not about “fiscal responsibility.” It’s about power—and specifically, the power to shove women back into the 1950s where they apparently think we all belong.
If you look closely (and I encourage you to squint hard through the smoke of their “family values” rhetoric), the GOP’s resistance to child care funding reveals something much darker than penny-pinching. It’s part of a broader, deliberate effort to keep women in subordinate roles—barefoot, pregnant, and preferably not asking too many questions.
They Don’t Want Women Working.
Why would you invest in making child care affordable and accessible if your real agenda is to prevent women from entering or staying in the workforce? Answer: You wouldn’t. And they aren’t.
Working mothers are now the majority breadwinners or co-breadwinners in most American families. But instead of embracing that reality and helping families thrive, Republican lawmakers are doing everything they can to turn the clock back. No paid leave. No affordable child care. No universal pre-K. No support for after-school programs. Nothing.
They know the math. If you can’t afford to work because child care costs more than your paycheck, what do you do? You stay home. And that’s exactly what they want.
They Don’t Want Women Educated Either.
Child care access is one of the biggest factors in whether women can pursue higher education. When Republicans block child care support for student-parents, they’re not just cutting programs—they’re cutting off futures.
Want a college degree while raising a family? Good luck. Want to lift your family out of poverty? Sorry, no subsidies for you. Want to be anything other than entirely dependent on your husband’s paycheck? You must be part of the liberal elite trying to destroy the nuclear family.
They Don’t Even Pretend Anymore.
Remember when politicians at least tried to lie well? Now they don’t bother. Senator J.D. Vance outright says women should be “encouraged” to stay home. Republican governors like Ron DeSantis have rolled back education support and bragged about rejecting federal funds for early childhood programs. They’re not hiding it—they want women out of the public sphere.
They’re coming for reproductive rights, yes. But it doesn’t stop there. They’re also coming for the economic independence that reproductive rights made possible. They want women poor. Dependent. Grateful. Apologetic for even considering a life that doesn’t revolve around children and a man.
And Let’s Be Clear: They Don’t Actually Care About Children.
If they did, they’d fund child care. They’d expand Medicaid. They’d make sure schools weren’t falling apart. They’d pass legislation ensuring kids have food, clean air, and a future on this planet. But they don’t.
Their interest in “the children” mysteriously disappears the second the umbilical cord is cut. After that, it’s every impoverished, under-resourced mother for herself. The same party screaming about “mothers’ rights” at school board meetings won’t lift a finger to help those same mothers work or study without going bankrupt from day care costs.
What You Can Do
Call it what it is: a war on women’s independence. Share the truth. Push back against the pearl-clutching pundits and their faux concern. Demand that your representatives support affordable child care not just as an economic issue, but as a civil rights one.
Women don’t need permission to work, to learn, or to lead.
We need support.
We need policy.
And we need to stop electing people who think The Handmaid’s Tale was a how-to manual.
In solidarity and fire,
Julie
Fighting like hell for women, kids, and truth!
P.S. This week, send a message to your elected officials. Let them know that child care is not optional, it’s essential.
