EXCLUSIVE – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s proposals for responding to parenthood as a mental health risk, saying that its policies are in part to blame for the problems facing parents in the first place.
Rubio’s remarks are a response to an advisory last month from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy regarding the declining mental health of parents. Murthy said that the problem was created by the stresses of 21st-century life, including children on social media and a lack of social bonds.
But Rubio said in a letter to Murthy sent on Tuesday and obtained by the Washington Examiner that the Biden administration’s proposed solution of universal childcare and other “one-size-fits-all federal solutions” to the crisis “woefully miss the mark.”
“There is a better approach to supporting families,” wrote Rubio. “It starts with tackling the runaway cost of essentials–housing, groceries, energy, and healthcare–that were created by the Biden-Harris Administration’s reckless spending agenda.”
Rubio noted that inflation and stagnant wages make it increasingly difficult to afford children on one or even two paychecks and that “a culture of ‘careerism’ pressures many parents to prioritize career advancement over spending additional time with their children.”
According to the surgeon general’s report last month, a third of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month, compared to 20% of childless adults, and nearly half of parents said their stress is completely overwhelming, compared to only 26% of those who aren’t parents.
The top reasons cited for stress as a parent in the report were financial strain and general societal instability.
In the letter to Murthy, Rubio stressed the need for “delivering flexible relief to families” who would prefer the option of staying home with their children instead of sending them outside of the home for care, irrespective of whether the cost is lowered through federal subsidies. Rubio has long been an advocate of increasing the Child Tax Credit, which provides money to parents, as opposed to ramping up subsidies for childcare provided by third parties. Rubio called in the letter to increase the child tax credit from the current $2,000 per child to at least $3,500 for each child and $4,500 for younger children.
As of last year, survey data from the Institute for Family Studies showed that 53% of married mothers thought it was better to have one parent in the home with children under the age of five.
In 2016, 63% of men and 55% of women said in a Pew Research Center poll that children in two-parent households are better off when one parent stays at home. Nearly half of both men and women surveyed said the stay-at-home parent should be the mother.
The child tax credit and other pro-family policies, such as using Social Security benefits to cover paid family leave time, have come to the forefront among anti-abortion conservatives since the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections under Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Rubio has called for expanding benefits to mothers and children as anti-abortion measures.
Rubio also said in his letter to Murthy that family stability, derived specifically through marriage and two-parent families, leads to greater financial security and general happiness.
“We should support all families, but policymakers shouldn’t be shy about recognizing that, time and time again, research shows that both children and parents are far more likely to thrive when a family is anchored by two married parents,” wrote Rubio.
The Surgeon General’s report on parental stress did not expressly say that married parents were generally less stressed than single parents, but it did highlight several troubling statistics on single parenthood.
Although only 65% of all parents and guardians reported experiencing loneliness in 2021, 77% of single parents expressed feelings of isolation.
Murthy’s report also noted that single parents “may face heightened stressors due to sole caregiving responsibilities, financial strain, and lack of support, which could negatively impact parents’ mental health and wellbeing.”
Rubio says it is “common sense for federal makers to incentivize and reward two-parent homes” through taxes, welfare incentives, and education for young people on the statistical benefits of marriage.
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“Years of negligence have caused policymakers to pass laws and regulations that discourage family formation, penalize healthy families, heighten challenges related to work-life-balance, and make it hard for working parents to provide the necessities for their children’s wellbeing,” wrote Rubio.
The Florida senator urged Murthy to “refocus on efforts that will deliver meaningful and flexible supports to families.”