Moms and dads deserve a great place to drop their kids off every day that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg. We need better childcare, daycare, early childhood education policies. (Applause.) In many states, sending your child to daycare costs more than sending them to a public university.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: True!
THE PRESIDENT: True. (Laughter.) And too often, parents have no choice but to put their kids in cheaper daycare that maybe doesn’t have the kinds of programming that makes a big difference in a child’s development. And sometimes there may just not be any slots, or the best programs may be too far away. And sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make
So let’s make this happen. By the end of this decade, let’s enroll 6 million children in high-quality preschool, and let’s make sure that we are making America stronger. That is good for families; it’s also good for the children, because we know investing in high-quality early childhood education makes all the difference in the world, and those kids will do better. So we need family leave, we need better child care policies, and we need to make sure that women get an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. (Applause.)
About 28 million Americans would benefit if we raised the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour -- (applause) -- like Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed support. And let me say this: Minimum wage -- those aren't just teenage jobs that are impacted. We're not just talking about young people. My first job was at Baskin Robbins. And I got paid the minimum wage and it was okay. Wearing that hat and the apron was -- (laughter) -- yeah.
But the truth is, the average worker who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage is 35 years old -- 35. A majority of low-wage workers are women. A lot of them have kids. Right now, somebody working full-time on the minimum wage makes $14,500 a year -- $14,500. If they’re a parent, that means they’re below the poverty line. Nobody who works full-time in America should be below the poverty line. (Applause.) They should not be raising their kids below the poverty line. I am not going to give up this fight. And we need Republicans in Congress to stop blocking a minimum wage increase and give America a raise. (Applause.)