Child care campaign plans $50 million push for midterm elections

An advocacy group will spend $50 million to promote child and elder care as election issues and plans targeted support for Democrats in several congressional races.

An advocacy group announced plans to spend $50 million to raise the profile of child and elder care in the upcoming midterm elections. The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, founded about a decade ago, said the funding will be used to support Democratic congressional candidates and to link caregiving costs to the nation's affordability discussion. The announcement comes amid rising child care costs and growing waiting lists for federal child care subsidies that serve low-income families. The group also said it will send volunteers to speak with voters about caregiving. Key details: - The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races and to emphasize child and elder care in affordability debates. - The group intends to target Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maine and Ohio, and House contests in Iowa and Pennsylvania. - The article reports that child care costs have risen and that waiting lists for federal subsidies have grown. - The article notes previous actions by both parties: a recent Republican law expanded child care tax credits and aid for military families, and Congress approved about $39 billion in child care aid in 2021 that has since largely expired. Summary: The group's announced spending is intended to make caregiving costs a more prominent issue in midterm campaigns by funding candidates and voter outreach. Undetermined at this time.