The Trump administration looks to be planning to pay stay-at-home parents. What a fantastic idea.
According to a recent report in The New York Times, the White House has drafted a proposal to pay stay-at-home parents if the other spouse is working outside the home for 35 hours a week. Donald Trump’s team has yet to confirm the plans, but it appears to be in line with an earlier pledge to “deliver meaningful support for mothers across America”. According to the report, the couple must be married and fit in an as yet unknown income bracket. Single parents would not receive the benefit, and neither would unmarried couples.
Now, I’ve never agreed with any of the Trump administration’s policies before but this is something I can get behind. The early years are crucial for development – and there should be an opportunity for parents to stay with their children at home. Of course, not everyone has a choice in the matter. The cost of living crisis in the UK is forcing more parents back to work, even if they think their children would be better off spending time with them at home.
I am also cautious about the intentions behind the policy. If it was truly about supporting families, or helping children, it would be available to unmarried parents too – and single ones. But that doesn’t mean the idea is a bad one just because the motivation is suspect. It’s a policy that should be available to more people, and one we should adopt in Britain.
