Trump vows to improve working parents’ options

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised Thursday to expand child care and time-off options for working moms and dads confronted with high costs and lack of access to quality care, saying his administration will “get it done.”

Trump spoke at the White House as legislation to grant federal workers, both military and civilian, 12 weeks of paid parental leave edged closer to becoming law.

Building on that, Trump said at a White House summit on the issue that “we now have a historic opportunity to enact long-overdue reforms. It’s time to pass paid family leave and expand access to quality” affordable child care for those not employed by the federal government.

Trump, who has just over a year left in his term, added, “We’re going to get it done.”’

Three months of paid leave for federal workers is included in a massive, annual defense policy bill that House lawmakers passed Wednesday and sent to the Senate. Trump has said he will sign it into law.

Service members are already eligible for paid parental leave, but how much time off they can take depends on which branch of the military they are in. The bill Trump is expected to sign would provide all service members with three months of paid parental leave.

Trump said the administration also wants to make affordable child care more accessible. Various proposals are circulating in Congress. The White House has not come out in support of a particular plan.

Trump noted that he had agreed to spend more on child care block grants that go to states and has doubled the federal child tax credit to $2,000.