The Biden Admin Is About To Make Childcare Way More Expensive For Thousands Of Families

 The Biden State Department released a proposal this fall that could increase the costs of childcare for thousands of families across the U.S. who rely on foreign nannies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The proposal would require that families pay the workers according to a calculation based on state and local minimum wage laws, as opposed to the current calculation, which uses federal laws, according to the WSJ. At the current level of wages and benefits paid out to nannies, the program is affordable for many Americans compared to other options, with around 20,000 families using it each year.  

“It’s creating this transactional relationship that distances people from one another, when it’s supposed to be this immersive family relationship,” Natalie Jordan, senior vice president at Cultural Care Au Pair, told the WSJ.

Under the current pay arrangement, au pairs receive lodging, food and a weekly stipend of $195.75 per week from their host families, for a total of 45 hours of work based on the current federal minimum wage, according to the WSJ. The new proposal would use local wage laws to calculate the nannies’ stipend, resulting in New York and California families paying a $469.46 stipend per week and instituting overtime pay for work over 40 hours.

Massachusetts already implemented a similar rule following a court decision in 2019, increasing the state’s au pair stipend to $528.63 per week from the original rate in 2020, according to the WSJ. Following the increase in pay, the number of au pairs going to work in Massachusetts declined by 68% in 2022, compared to other states that remained at the current pay rate, which had program involvement increase by an average of 4%.

Childcare costs have been hit disproportionally by rising inflation, with prices on childcare-related services increasing by 32% on average since 2019 as of September, while inflation grew by 20% in that same time period. Inflation peaked at 9.1% for the year under President Joe Biden in June 2022 and has since remained high, rising 3.2% in the month of October year-over-year.

Families are increasingly struggling under high inflation and regulations that have increased everyday costs substantially. The cost of shelter has risen 17.3% since Biden took office in January 2021, while the price of food has risen 19.6% in that same time period.