The United States needs policies that grow our economy from the bottom up, by expanding the middle class with good-paying jobs that can support a family. In Congress, I will work to build an economy in which workers can thrive and get ahead, including by increasing wages, protecting workers’ rights to collectively bargain, and making it possible to raise a family while participating in the workforce.

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We have to have economic policies that allow people to work, raise a family, and care for their loved ones. That’s why I support at least four weeks of paid family leave, subsidizing affordable child care and passing universal pre-Kindergarten so that young parents can afford to take care of their children and keep their careers.

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I support increasing the federal minimum wage to $15/hour, and then indexing the minimum wage to inflation so that workers don’t start falling behind the moment they get a raise. And I believe we should require equal pay for equal work. I’ve proposed such an increase as the law in Kentucky and think it should be the law everywhere in our country.  

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And because I am serious about ending generational poverty, I support making the Child Tax Credit permanent. While it was in effect, the Child Tax Credit lifted nearly 4 million children out of poverty. Cutting child poverty has positive effects in both the immediate and long term. Aside from the immediate effect of giving families the resources they need to survive and thrive, It is associated with better lifelong outcomes for children in education, earnings in adulthood, and health.