Child care issues were on the agenda for Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton during a visit to Lexington Tuesday. The former Secretary of State held an almost hour-long round table talk with parents and staff at Lexington’s Family Care Center.
Clinton told those gathered that she wanted to elevate the challenge of attaining quality child care, which is not typically a high profile presidential campaign issue.
She says about a quarter of college students in Kentucky have children. During a light moment, she recalled how her daughter offered advice on holding her granddaughter, “Like swaddling a baby. I never swaddled our baby. I never swaddled Chelsea. And now, it’s like you’ve got to swaddle the baby.” “So, learning how you swaddle a baby. That’s an art form,” noted Clinton.
Clinton also offered a pitch for a proposal that parents pay no more than ten percent of their income for childcare. Later she said existing government subsidies could help cover that cost, “Some of them flow directly to the states and to other entities and some are more direct, but mostly through the states.” “We already have a system, it’s just not kept up with the times. It hasn’t kept up with the cost,” said Clinton.
Clinton also heard about the Family Care Center’s home visiting program.
She says providing opportunities for young parents to have questions answered is one of the best investments that can be made. After the Lexington stop, Clinton was scheduled for another event later in the day in Louisville. ?
