Commentary: Where Harris and Trump stand on the pocketbook issues facing women
11/05/2024 04:50
Inflation, caregiving, making enough money, and securing a comfortable future are financial concerns that keep women up at night. Here's where each candidate stands on those issues.
Reproductive rights may be driving many women to the polls this election cycle, but so are their pocketbooks.
Inflation, of course, has been a big issue for all voters. More than a third of women called it the “most important” issue this presidential election, topping all other issues, according to an October survey of women from KFF.
But it's not just the high cost of groceries or insurance that women are worried about when it comes to their finances. Raising a family, caring for aging parents, making enough money, and securing a comfortable future are also financial concerns that keep women up at night.
Here's where each candidate stands on those issues.
Given that nearly half of women reported in an Allianz Life survey this year that they are the family CFO, it's hard for them not to notice when prices have gone up. While inflation has cooled substantially, the spikes of the last few years remain on women's minds.
What Kamala Harris plans to do: The vice president said she wants to create a federal ban on price gouging of essential items during times of crises. Already, 37 states have laws prohibiting the practice during emergencies, such as hurricanes or wildfires. The proposed ban would not do much to bring down prices now, but potentially keep a lid on price spikes in the future, though studies on this are mixed.
Harris also proposed to expand the $35 cap on insulin prices to all patients, broadening the effort started by the Biden administration, which put limits on the medication for those on Medicare.
What Donald Trump plans to do: Even though Trump has vowed to lower prices on the campaign trail, the GOP presidential candidate's two big policy promises — tariffs and mass deportations — likely will usher in higher prices. Companies will pass off as much of the 60% tariff on Chinese imports and the 10-20% tariff on all remaining imports to consumers. The worst hit would be residents in southern and midwestern states, according to one study, where imports are a greater share of the state's gross domestic product.
Mass deportations likely would result in major labor shortages in industries such as agriculture, construction, services, and manufacturing. That would make it harder for companies to produce enough goods and provide services, driving prices up.
There are many costs that come with caregiving — either for a child or an elderly loved one. And very often, this burden falls on the women in the family. Almost two-thirds of unpaid care work is done by women, reducing their lifetime earnings by 15%. Additionally, single mothers make up more than 4 in 5 single parents.
What Harris plans to do: To help families, the Harris-Walz campaign wants to establish paid family and medical leave, according to its website. Harris also is looking to reinstate the expanded child tax credit from the pandemic, which drove down child poverty to an historic low and reduced food insufficiency by 25%. Additionally, she wants to provide a $6,000 credit for newborns to help parents at that critical life juncture. Harris has also proposed capping childcare costs at 7% of a working family's income.
To support those caring for aging loved ones, Harris proposed to have Medicare cover in-home healthcare for seniors. Right now, the federally run healthcare program that covers 67.5 million seniors and individuals with disabilities does not pay for this care. Only Medicaid does, but you must have almost no assets to your name to qualify.
What Trump plans to do: Trump wants to make permanent the tax changes under his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that passed during his first term. That includes the increased child tax credit, which was raised to $2,000 per child from $1,000. It also doubled the standard deduction for filers, including heads of households, the tax status many single parents file under.
The GOP presidential nominee also promised to create a tax credit for caregivers but has provided no additional details on how it would work and who would qualify.
Read more about the child tax credit for the 2023 tax year
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not been raised for 15 years, the longest stretch without increases. Workers who are paid the minimum wage or less are twice as likely to be women than men.
What Harris plans to do: Harris said she wants to increase the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. Full-time workers earning the current minimum wage make only $15,000 a year, “which is essentially poverty wages,” Harris said at a campaign stop.
What Trump plans to do: The former president has not announced any policies on minimum wage. When asked about raising the federal wage during a campaign stint at McDonald's, Trump reportedly responded by saying: “Well, I think this. These people work hard. They’re great. And I just saw something — a process that’s beautiful.”
Nearly 55% of those who get Social Security benefits are women. Women also tend to live longer than men, relying longer on the social welfare program to prevent them from outliving their savings. That means the future of Social Security is critical to the financial well-being of women as they age. But the reserve fund for Social Security is expected to run out in 2034, at which point benefits would be cut by 23%.
Read more: What is the retirement age for Social Security, 401(k), and IRA withdrawals?
What Harris plans to do: The vice president's campaign website promises to strengthen Social Security (and Medicare) by taxing millionaires and billionaires, so seniors can depend on their full benefits. But Harris hasn't provided much more detail on her plan to do that.
What Trump plans to do: Trump similarly said he will protect Social Security (and Medicare). But an analysis of his other policy proposals — certain tax breaks, tariffs, and deportations — would mean Social Security's reserves would run out sooner — by 2031. At that time, benefits would be reduced by 30-31% and eventually by 33% by 2035.
Janna Herron is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @JannaHerron.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance