Ohio Sen. and Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance attacked Vice President Kamala Harris several years ago as a “childless cat lady” and questioned why she condones childless people. It is attracting a lot of attention. assume a position of power.
The fact that Harris has two stepchildren, that everyone has a stake in this country regardless of their family structure, and that it’s incredibly stupid politics to insult a huge number of voters. Let’s skip it.
If Mr. Vance wants Americans to have children, how can he spend less time insulting those who don’t have children and use his position of power to make it easier for them to choose to have children? You should spend more time thinking about it. Given how much he cares about this, you’d think he would support paid parental leave, public investment in child care, and strong public schools, right?
Oddly enough, Project 2025, which features Vance as the author of the foreword, is going in the opposite direction, although former President Donald Trump pretends not to know. Their plan would siphon funding to wealthy private schools, increase child care costs, and starve public schools.
Mr. Vance could learn a lot from what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor-controlled Legislature have accomplished in Minnesota over the past two years.
Walz has always prioritized making the state “the best conditions for our children to grow up.” He and Congress worked together on universal school lunches, paid family leave, increased funding for public schools, and child tax credits, among other things. These are all programs that make parenthood easier. And we still need more!
I am an upper-middle-class, college-educated, white parent of two young boys, one of the most privileged parents in this country. However, my wife and I both find raising children surprisingly difficult.
Working two full-time jobs, we had child support costs that were as high as our mortgage. The birth of our second child resulted in a stay in the NICU and unexpected ongoing medical costs. The race each January to find summer camp options is as competitive and stressful as shoppers charging at Target at midnight on Black Friday. I’m writing this while playing with my 6-year-old, who has Friday off from summer camp.
Addressing the mental health needs of children in a complex and overburdened behavioral health system is a full-time job. And we are incredibly fortunate that this is the scope of our challenge. Too many parents in our country overcome all of these problems and more while struggling to get by with little money and family support.
None of what I just said touches on the most important part of my job as a father: raising my children to know they are loved and safe to be who they want to be. No. But all these stressors make it very difficult to be a father who can do the job.
So you won’t be surprised to learn that our family has decided to be complete with two children.
Every time I thought about having another child, I worried about paying for childcare, medical emergencies, and housing. And we were worried long-term about the state of the world that we were pulling our children into.
Raising children is hard. The decision to have children is a deeply personal one and should not be taken lightly. Our political leaders may insult your decisions and try to bully you into doing what they want. Or we could create public programs to support adults who decide that raising children is right for them.
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