Along with with daughter Ivanka, Donald Trump on Tuesday plans to unveil a child-care agenda that is aimed at attracting the female and suburban voters who have been reluctant to embrace his campaign.
Trump has not spoken much about child care during his campaign. But his daughter raised the issue prominently during her speech at the Republican National Convention.
The plan being presented in Pennsylvania relies heavily on tax deductions, rebates for low-income earners and personal savings accounts. It also promises at least six weeks of paid leave for new mothers, according to an outline provided by the campaign to reporters.
Trump aides would not say how much the full plan would cost or detail how it would be paid for, saying some of that information would be provided during a tax reform speech later this week.
But the one element for which the campaign did provide a cost -- ensuring paid leave for new mothers that do not already receive the benefit from their employers -- would cost about $3.4 billion a year, according to Trump's policy advisors. They said the cost would be absorbed by finding fraud in the unemployment insurance system. Budget specialists often frown on such accounting because it assumes it is possible to drastically upgrade enforcement in a manner that detects every case of abuse.
Trump's staff said the plan would provide a tax deduction equal to the average cost of child care in each parent's state, with caps for high earners and rebates for low-income earners. The plan would also expand personal savings accounts and add new flexibility, including the ability to roll over the accounts from year to year and to spend the money on things such as private-school tuition and elderly care.