Advocacy Group Launches $50M Push for Child Care in Midterm Elections

Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy aims to make caregiver issues a top priority for voters.

Mar. 17, 2026 at 4:11am

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

An advocacy group called the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy is planning to spend $50 million to support Democratic candidates in congressional races who want to expand support for child and elder care. The group hopes to make caregiver issues more salient in the upcoming midterm elections, as the costs of child care continue to rise and waiting lists for federal child care subsidies grow.

Why it matters

The high cost of child care has become a major affordability issue for many families, with costs often exceeding what they pay for housing. The 'sandwich generation' of middle-aged people caring for both their own children and aging parents also faces significant financial and caregiving pressures. The campaign aims to tie these caregiver challenges to the broader affordability debate that is expected to be a key issue in the midterm elections.

The details

The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy plans to focus its $50 million in support on Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maine and Ohio, as well as House races in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The group will also deploy volunteers to talk with voters about caregiving issues. While Republicans have begun to back child care as a workforce issue, their proposals tend to be less expansive than those offered by Democrats, such as Biden's failed 2021 plan for universal pre-K and expanded child care subsidies.

  • The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy was created a decade ago.
  • The group is launching its $50 million push ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The players

Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy

An advocacy group aiming to make caregiver issues a top priority in elections.

Sondra Goldschein

Executive director of the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy and its political action committee.

Joe Biden

The former president who successfully pushed Congress in 2021 to provide $39 billion in aid for child care, and later proposed creating nationwide universal pre-K and expanding child care subsidies, though the proposal failed in Congress.

Donald Trump

The former president who said in a 2024 campaign address that increasing foreign tariffs would 'take care' of the expense of child care, though that plan has not materialized.

National Republican Congressional Committee

The campaign organization for Republican candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“When child care can cost more than your rent or a mortgage, or you have to sacrifice a paycheck in order to be able to take care of a loved one, that can motivate how people vote.”

— Sondra Goldschein, Executive director, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy

What’s next

The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy plans to pour support for Democratic candidates into several key Senate and House races, while also dispatching volunteers to talk with voters about caregiving issues ahead of the midterm elections.

The takeaway

The high cost of child care has become a major affordability issue for many families, and the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy is aiming to make it a top priority for voters in the upcoming midterm elections by supporting candidates who want to expand support for child and elder care.