(NewsNation) — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance called high housing costs “the biggest threat to the American dream” during a NewsNation town hall Thursday.
“So many people in my generation — they’re delaying having families, they’re delaying getting married because they can’t afford a place to raise a family,” Vance told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.
Low inventory, elevated mortgage rates and record-high prices have turned buying a home from a dream into a nightmare in recent years.
At the same time, rising child care costs have stretched families’ finances and caused others to delay having kids altogether.
Here’s what Vance said he would do to bring down the cost of housing and child care.
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Tackling the housing shortage
The U.S. housing market is short 4.5 million homes, which has kept inventory tight and pushed prices to record highs despite a drop in sales.
Vance said he would make it easier to build houses by lowering energy costs and easing regulatory burdens.
“Our ancestors went to the moon with pocket calculators and slide rulers, and now, our government makes it way too hard to build the homes that we need,” he said.
Another part of the solution, Vance argues, should be aimed at lowering demand by securing the southern border. He said it’s no coincidence housing costs have risen at the same time as illegal immigration.
“When you let those folks in your country at the level that we have, well, you’ve got to put them somewhere,” Vance said. “Those are homes that aren’t going to American citizens.”
While it’s true more people in need of housing leads to higher demand, economists have warned that tightening immigration could worsen existing labor shortages in the construction industry, further constraining supply.
During Thursday’s town hall, Vance said he would drive down mortgage rates by further curbing inflation.
Lowering the cost of child care
For millions of Americans, child care, not housing, is their biggest monthly expense.
To bring down costs, Vance emphasized the need for flexibility and said he wants to expand the number of child care providers by moving away from the federal government’s “one-size-fits-all model.”
“The federal government actually makes it really hard for anybody other than the people who are currently providing child care to get into that job,” Vance said.
Instead, the Republican VP candidate said he wants to “make it easier for grandparents, aunts and uncles, church communities and nonprofit centers, to participate in providing child care.”
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“We have to give young women and young men more options to actually build the kind of child care that works for them,” Vance said.
When asked whether he would push corporations to provide better family leave, Vance said he was open to it: “I do think that would relieve some pressure on families.”
Above all, he wants to see more nonprofits and community organizations involved.
“A lot of them would like to help out, but they don’t get the same federal benefits as other organizations,” Vance said.”