JD Vance suggests grandparents helping out as way to lower childcare costs

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance's comments on how he'll go about lowering childcare costs if he takes the office has incensed social media users who say the answer is out of touch.

In a conversation with Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative activism organization Turning Point Action, Vance suggested families have relatives help out with childcare to relieve the financial strains of putting children in daycare.

"One of the ways that you may be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for daycare is, make it so that, maybe like grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there's an aunt or uncle who wants to help out a little bit more," Vance said.

He also spoke in support of creating better pathways for people to become qualified childcare workers. State-mandated qualifications and lack of access to education act as barriers to people going into the childcare field, he argued.

"We've got a lot of people who love kids, who would love to take care of kids, but they can't either because they don't have access to the education that they need, or maybe more importantly, because the state government says you're not allowed to take care of children unless you have some ridiculous certification," Vance said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, qualifications for childcare workers vary from state to state but many require a high school diploma or equivalent. In Kentucky, staff members of licensed childcare centers must have a high school diploma or GED and undergo various trainings, according to state law.

Vance argued that reducing regulations for childcare workers would empower more people to enter the field and help meet the demand for childcare services in the country.

Many people online found his take to be unhelpful.

"'Omg' says mothers all over the country 'never thought of that before jeez,'" one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"he's sooooo out of touch. an unrelatable buffoon. those aunts and uncles may live far away and have jobs themselves!!! grandparents already take care of their families. what is he talking about?" another user wrote in response to Vance's comments.

Vance took to X on Thursday to elaborate on his statements.

"We should try to encourage whatever is best for each individual family. Right now we don't: we try to force or at least subsidize one model on every family in this country. And if you open up kinship and other options for families, you will relieve some pressure on the daycare system in this country," he wrote.

He also reiterated that education pathways for childcare professionals should be improved.

"A consistent thing I've heard is that there is great demand for a lot of jobs, but a totally broken pathway for young people to get into those jobs. It's true of plumbers and advanced manufacturing, but it's also true of child care providers," Vance wrote.

This isn't the first time Vance's comments have stirred controversy. On a few occasions since Trump named Vance his running mate in the 2024 presidential election, comments he made prior to being elected senator in 2022 have surfaced and drawn backlash.

Vance made one such comment in September 2021 in response to a question about whether he thought anti-abortion laws should include an exception for victims of rape and incest.

"It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society," Vance said at the time.

Gov. Andy Beshear referenced Vance's 2021 comment in August in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." In the interview, Beshear accused Vance of seeing rape merely as an "inconvenience."

"JD Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape 'inconvenient,'" Beshear said. "Inconvenience is traffic. Make him go through this."

Beshear added that Republicans "don't have any empathy at all" about the party's stance on abortion.

Other comments Vance made in 2021 on the Fox News program "Tucker Carlson Tonight," in which he claimed the country is run "by a bunch of childless cat ladies," also reemerged in August.

When asked about the comment in August, Vance said the comment was a "thought experiment" rather than a "policy proposal," USA TODAY reported.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JD Vance says grandparents helping out may lower childcare costs