White House Focuses On Child Care Costs For Middle Class Families
Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 2:32PM | Admin 
Underscoring the link between child care and early education, the Obama administration wants to help ease the cost of child care for middle class families.
The most prominent recommendation coming out of the White House's Middle Class Task Force in this area is to expand the tax credit for child and dependent care from 20% to 35% for families earning between $43,000 and $85,000.
This means that families eligible for the tax credit could either deduct a maximum of $2,100 from their taxable income or collect that amount in the form of a refund, if their taxes are currently withheld through their paychecks.
Families earning between $85,000 and $115,000 would also benefit from the increased tax credit.
The White House's Middle Class Task Force has also recommended increasing child care funding by $1.6 billion.
The money would go into the Child Care and Development Fund, which disburses funds to state agencies to help low- to moderate-income families pay for child care.
Click here to read more about the Middle Class Task Force's child care proposals.
Meanwhile, a broad overview of President Obama's latest federal budget can be had here.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget for California includes drastic cuts to vital health and human services, affecting children, seniors, the disabled, and low-income working families.;)
