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Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

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Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree, but there does exist a network of people who run childcare services for the public out of their homes. I imagine this is who benefits from the amendment.

If this gets us further from a land value tax, it is bad. Simple as. 100% this is disguised handout for home schooling right wing nuts. Property tax is not a significant burden for regular childcare outfits. "Cash poor asset rich" is not a real problem and anyone telling you otherwise it out to swindle you.

> home schooling right wing nuts

The government needs to compete for their tax base more. make public school worth it and these folks won't keep pulling their kids out to where the system falls apart like public transportation where only drug addicts/homeless take it.

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds more like a way to let homeschoolers get out of property tax than it does anything that would lower the cost of childcare for workers.

What's wrong with that? if my kid doesn't go to public school, i should be able to take my contribution to that and use it for what i moved him to (charter school or homeschool) etc.

No that's like antithetical to the entire concept of taxes in general and their use for all. Government services are not a market and should not be. We pay for everyone's schooling because educated people make a better democracy. If you decide the public system isn't for you, why should you have any entitlement to not continue to pay for everyone else's children like everyone else?

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#54

Setting aside the philosophical free market questions, additional government subsidy childcare seems fine. There’s a positive externality of readily available childcare: one adult to many children is more efficient than home care, and parents being able to work generates economic production, taxes, etc. But couldn’t we come up with a subsidy with less market distortion? A specific subsidy to pay for childcare for chi…

> only people with high childcare costs will work in the field.

I imagine that is kind of the point, as those people are often stay at home moms.

How do you increase the workforce without really increasing wages? Pay in a currency only valuable to a group currently not in the workforce.

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#55

Universal childcare is low-hanging fruit for America. Unfortunately, there is a vocal section (mostly married men) who want a stay-at-home mom and believe this will, similar to women entering the workforce following the advent of contraception and the civil rights movement, "force" their wives into the workplace.

Universal Childcare at the margin means some people who would rather take care of their own children are pushed to take a job and have someone else watch their child.

I fail to see why that's superior to a universal childcare subsidy, which can be used for childcare or retained if someone wishes to care for their child themself. Or better yet, a universal child allowance that parents can use to defray whatever child raising costs they see fit.

And I say that as someone whose current plan is to be a stay-at-home dad while my (female) partner continues to work.

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#56
post #15

Texas has an amendment coming up for vote next month to allow municipalities to cut property tax on properties used for child care. Was a pleasant surprise to see real good incentives tied to a change.

This isn't as bad as it sounds. Not sure what the rules in TX are, but in CA child care is a business, meaning you have to run it like one. Homeschooling one own's children isn't going to meet this definition, so only bonafide businesses should qualify for this.

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#57

Setting aside the philosophical free market questions, additional government subsidy childcare seems fine. There’s a positive externality of readily available childcare: one adult to many children is more efficient than home care, and parents being able to work generates economic production, taxes, etc. But couldn’t we come up with a subsidy with less market distortion? A specific subsidy to pay for childcare for chi…

You know you've lost the plot when even child care is looked at through the lense of capitalistic markets. Maybe fuck the markets and lets do what is best for the children and the parents. Or is that a radical idea nowadays?

When would that not have been a radical ideal?

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#58

Setting aside the philosophical free market questions, additional government subsidy childcare seems fine. There’s a positive externality of readily available childcare: one adult to many children is more efficient than home care, and parents being able to work generates economic production, taxes, etc. But couldn’t we come up with a subsidy with less market distortion? A specific subsidy to pay for childcare for chi…

Childcare is always going to be pushing up or near pushing up against Baumol's cost disease constraints.

The only way to make it at all "productive" is cheap dense housing, something that America currently sucks terribly at.

Additionally, the fact that it is a gazillion private providers rather than a simple public service like schools makes it messier.

My prediction is that eventually the housing stuff will be figured out, and also this stuff will be increasingly rolled into the public school system, and both of those will relieve the pressure.

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#59

The argument no one has brought up yet: why should society have to pay up even more for breeders' personal choices? People without kids have to pay higher taxes (via rebates for parents), utilize less resources (public schools), effectively subsidizing people who want to have kids. I'm all for protecting what's best for children, but I am not happy with people having children they cannot adequately support, causing o…

I understand where you are coming from. I am curious though if you feel differently after watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ (I did)

Re: Kentucky made child care free for child care workers

#60
post #15

Texas has an amendment coming up for vote next month to allow municipalities to cut property tax on properties used for child care. Was a pleasant surprise to see real good incentives tied to a change.

That sounds more like a way to let homeschoolers get out of property tax than it does anything that would lower the cost of childcare for workers.

Fair point. I grew up in a home day care, and my mother ran her own home day care for most of my youth so I tend to think of it from that perspective. I was public schooled as were all the children in their care, but things have shifted a bit.

Alongside some of the other proposed cuts you can certainly see it as catering to a particular base, but I think the choice to manage it at the county/city level sets it a little bit apart.

On second thought, daycare licensing is quite separate from homeschooling, and requires unrelated children. It can certainly be feasible to operate them together, but is that really targeting home schoolers for a tax break then?

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