Warren unveils child care cost calculator in push for universal child care

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) unveiled a new cost calculator on Thursday to promote her plan for universal child care.

The tool, which Warren announced earlier Thursday during an appearance on “The View,” aims to personalize the 2020 presidential candidate’s proposal for universal child care and shows how much families could save under her plan.

Warren has proposed making such services free for families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line. For those making more, the Democratic hopeful’s plan would implement a sliding scale topping out at 7 percent of a family’s income.{mosads}

The calculator asks about how many children a user has, current child care costs, household size, location and income. It then determines whether the family would receive free child care under the proposal or how much the family could save.

People who indicate they do not have children are taken to a page promoting the Massachusetts Democrat’s Universal Child Care and Early Learning plan. 

Warren unveiled her universal child care proposal in February in a post on Medium. The plan would see the federal government team up with local governments, nonprofits, faith-based organizations and others to create a network of options for child care.

Warren’s campaign similarly released a calculator earlier this year that allows people to see how much they would save under the Democratic hopeful’s student loan debt forgiveness plan. 

Warren is among two dozen candidates running for the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination. Her campaign has seen momentum grow in recent weeks as she has laid out a series of progressive policy proposals.