GOP's plan to help working moms? Marry a rich husband

By Kathryn Anne Edwards / For Bloomberg Opinion

The Republican Party is making yet another appeal to mothers, hoping to get them in Donald Trump’s camp ahead of this year’s presidential election. As Alabama Sen. Katie Britt put it in her State of the Union rebuttal, “we are the party of hardworking parents and families. We want to give you and your children the opportunities to thrive; and we want families to grow.”

Don’t buy it. Judging from Republicans’ actual policies, their real message couldn’t be more different: If you care about your kids and their future, they advise, marry rich.

Let’s review the many things mothers in the U.S. don’t have. Paid time off for childbirth. Mandatory coverage of maternal care in private health insurance plans. Capped out-of-pocket costs for labor and delivery. Paid or even unpaid leave to care for their newborns. Broad support for early childhood education. Accessible and affordable child care. Paid sick days to take care of an ill kid. Labor laws that support the right to part-time or flexible work.

Republican politicians offer at best scant support for such family-friendly policies and are usually fiercely opposed. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., got a lot of flak for tanking the family provisions of Build Back Better — including a tax credit proven to keep millions of children out of poverty — but not a single Republican member of Congress supported them either.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-gops-plan-to-help-working-moms-marry-a-rich-husband/