After coming under heavy criticism for attempting to overhaul the healthcare system while the economy was hemorrhaging jobs, Barack Obama is trying to refocus on a broader set of issue concerning families.
Mr. Obama turned his attention to helping the middle class in the US, which is said to be under assault for quite a while, pledging to contribute to the costs of raising children and caring for ageing parents. The initiatives are part of a fresh message from the White House in the wake of last week’s shock Senate seat loss in Massachusetts and falling approval ratings.
To provide the security, the Obama administration has announced a raft of policies aimed at families “sandwiched” between paying for childcare and their children’s education, and caring for their parents.
They include almost doubling the child and dependent care tax credit for families making less than $85000 a year and offering an additional $1.6bn for childcare funding. Also under the plan, a student’s federal loan payments will be limited to 10% of their income above a basic living allowance, to help hundreds of thousands of students that are struggling towards making ends meet after college.
A new system of automatic workplace retirement savings accounts will be created. Tax credits will be expanded to match retirement savings and new safeguards to protect retirement savings will be enacted. Support for caring for the old will be extended as well.