Childcare Costs Weigh On Some Voters Before The Midterm Elections

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Childcare costs are a concern for some voters weighing their choices ahead of the midterm elections, including in Pennsylvania’s competitive 7th Congressional District. Democratic nominee Bob Brooks supports expanded public programs, while Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie has backed tax incentives; the source report also describes voters who remain undecided.

Childcare expenses are weighing on some voters ahead of the November midterm elections, with the issue featuring in campaigns in Pennsylvania’s closely contested 7th Congressional District. A report by The 74 Million describes parents weighing costs alongside broader concerns about prices, as Democrat Bob Brooks and Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie offer different approaches to childcare.

Jenny Escolastico, a mother of two children under 5 who lives outside Allentown, told The 74 Million that childcare costs have kept her from returning to work. Her household relies on her husband’s income. Although her son attends state-funded prekindergarten, Escolastico said she would still need after-school care for him and full-time care for her daughter. She voted for Donald Trump in 2024 and was considering whether to vote Democratic in the midterms, the report said.

Brooks, a retired firefighter, has called for universal prekindergarten, expanded full-day kindergarten, more Head Start funding and broader eligibility for federal childcare assistance. Mackenzie, a father of two children under 3, has backed a tax-credit expansion for childcare expenses and increased incentives for employers that provide or subsidize care. The tax provisions were ultimately folded into Trump’s broader tax and social-program legislation, according to the report.

The report cited a September Franklin and Marshall College poll finding about 16% of voters in the district were undecided. It also cited Child Care Aware of America data showing the U.S. average cost of full-time childcare exceeded $13,000 in 2025, and an AP-NORC poll from June 2025 in which about three-quarters of adults described childcare costs as a major national problem. These figures describe different measures and populations; they do not establish how many voters will change their votes because of childcare.

Childcare Enters a Tight House Race

The 7th District is among the competitive congressional contests that could help determine which party controls the House, according to the report. That makes the candidates’ proposals relevant beyond their policy details: they are competing to address a cost that some families say affects whether a parent can work and how a household manages its budget.

The issue also cuts across party identification. The report profiles Escolastico, a 2024 Trump voter considering a Democratic vote, and Lerin Hagenbuch, a registered Republican who had not decided how to vote. Their accounts illustrate individual concerns, not a measured district-wide shift. The available reporting does not establish that childcare will decide the race, but it shows the issue is part of the choices some voters are weighing.

From Pandemic Aid to Campaign Pledges

The report traces heightened attention to childcare to the pandemic, when closures and quarantines exposed how dependent families and employers were on care providers. The federal government spent more than $50 billion to support the childcare sector, including funds for staff training, wages, protective equipment and assistance for families, according to the report. That pandemic funding later expired.

In 2021, President Joe Biden proposed subsidies intended to limit most families’ childcare costs to 7% of household income. Congress did not approve the plan. The report says the end of pandemic aid was followed by longer waits for childcare assistance, adding to pressure on some lower-income families. More recently, candidates in several state and local races have also campaigned on childcare proposals, though those contests do not establish how voters will respond in the congressional race.

““What I would be spending on childcare would be more than what I would be making if I were working full time.””

— Jenny Escolastico, quoted by The 74 Million

Voter Impact Remains Unmeasured

The reporting provides examples of individual voters and a poll showing that some district voters were undecided in September. It does not show how many voters rank childcare above other issues, whether the candidates’ proposals have changed anyone’s vote, or how the issue affects their standing in the race. The cited national polling and cost figures also do not predict the outcome in the 7th District.

The report refers to a section about $60 million in election spending supporting childcare issues, but the supplied source text ends mid-sentence before providing details. The spending’s source, recipients, timing and relationship to the candidates therefore cannot be reported from the material provided.

Campaigns Face November Voters

Voters in Pennsylvania’s 7th District are due to decide the race in November. Brooks and Mackenzie have set out contrasting approaches—expanded public programs and assistance on one side, tax incentives on the other—but the source material does not specify further campaign events, updated polling or a subsequent policy milestone.

As the election approaches, further polling and campaign statements may clarify how prominently childcare ranks alongside prices for housing, food and fuel. The outcome will show who wins the district, but it will not, by itself, establish whether childcare costs determined voters’ choices.

Key Questions

Why are childcare costs part of the midterm debate?

Some parents say care costs take a substantial share of household budgets and can affect whether a parent can work. The report describes childcare as one of the expenses voters are weighing alongside broader cost-of-living concerns.

What childcare policies do the candidates support?

Democrat Bob Brooks has proposed universal prekindergarten, expanded full-day kindergarten, more Head Start funding and broader eligibility for federal assistance. Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie has backed expanding a childcare tax credit and increasing incentives for employers that provide or subsidize care.

How many voters in the district were undecided?

A September Franklin and Marshall College poll cited by The 74 Million found about 16% of voters in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District were undecided. That figure is a snapshot from the poll, not a prediction of the election result.

Do the reported figures show childcare will decide the race?

No. The report documents the issue’s importance to some voters and presents polling on undecided voters, but it does not measure whether childcare will change votes or determine the race.

Source: rss