Children and Families

Universal Child Allowance (UCA)

$600/mo first child, $400/mo second, $300/mo each additional. Via FedCard, no means test. The Accord's largest genuinely new cash benefit. ~$12,000/yr for a family with two children.

Baby Bonds

$1,000 at birth + $1,000/yr × 18 years = $19,000 at age 18. No appreciation assumed on trust funds. Vests in four 25% tranches at 18, 19, 20, 21. Unrestricted cash. Funded from General Fund (relocated from SS Trust in v17 — Baby Bonds are a wealth-building program, not a retirement program). Governed by Debt Governor: if General Fund cannot cover, VAT auto-increases.

Universal Pre-K

Free for all 3- and 4-year-olds. Mixed delivery. Quality Wage standard. ~8M children.

Childcare Infrastructure

Three mandate triggers: (1) Private companies with 5,000+ employees nationwide must provide on-site childcare at every facility with 500+ employees on-site. (2) Any single site with 1,000+ employees within a 5-mile radius must provide on-site childcare regardless of total company size — the 5-mile anti-gaming rule prevents splitting a 2,000-person campus into two "sites" of 999 across the street. (3) Federal facilities with 200+ employees must provide on-site childcare (raised from 100 — a 12-slot center is below viability; 200 employees ≈ 24 slots = minimum efficient unit with infant, toddler, and preschool rooms). All facilities must supply 120% of actuarial demand — with ~10% of employees having children under 5, this equals approximately 12% of headcount in childcare slots, of which 30% must be available to the surrounding community. Employer funded entirely — no federal subsidy for the mandate. Federal cost limited to enforcement and the FCIG Pilot ($375M/yr) serving 100 COMPASS-identified childcare deserts at $6K–$9K/slot/yr. The parking lot analogy: employers already provide parking at $5–15K per space so employees can arrive; they can provide childcare so employees can stay.

Paid Family Leave

18 weeks at 60% wage replacement for birth or adoption.

Changes to Existing Law

Child Tax Credit and EITC: repealed. UCA replaces both. CTC/EITC wind-down concurrent with UCA activation—no family loses benefits during transition.

Scoring Endnote 12: Children and Families Cost

UCA: ~70M children × tiered $600/$400/$300/mo = ~$0.58T. Baby Bonds: $0.04T (Year 10), $0.07T at saturation (Year 18).

Pre-K: 8M × $10K = $80B gross. Less existing Head Start/state pre-K ($22B): $58B net new.

Childcare mandate: federal $2B + FCIG $0.375B = $2.4B/yr. Private mandate ~$4B (employer cost).

Leave: ~4M events/yr × 18wks × 60% of ~$58K avg = ~$20B.

CTC/EITC wind-down savings: ~$130B/yr. Net new family spending: ~$340B.