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Source: Care.com

Parents who aren’t interested in a tax credit could opt for a subsidy. Biden’s plan, which is modeled off the ​Child Care for Working Families Act proposed by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), calls for child care assistance for families earning up to 150% of their state’s median income, no matter the type of care they choose. No family earning below that will have to pay more than 7% of their income, according to campaign senior officials.

Under Biden’s plan, parents would be able to go to a federal website and search for participating child-care centers in their area and apply to the program. Once approved, the state would notify families of the amount they are going to pay and reimburse child-care centers on the back end. “This would save families thousands of dollars and more importantly, give them peace of mind,” Biden says. 

Nearly 3 out of 4 parents spend 10% or more of their household income on child care, according to Care.com’s annual Cost of Care Survey released in June. About 55% of families surveyed report spending at least $10,000 per year on child care.

And those costs continue to rise. Daycare and preschool expenses grew almost twice as fast as overall inflation between 2000 and 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed by Elise Gould, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. Daycare and preschool inflation grew 94% while overall inflation grew 48% from 2000 to 2019, Gould found.

While income levels vary broadly by state, a family earning roughly $100,000 per year would typically be covered by the proposed subsidy program, says Katie Hamm, vice president of early childhood policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

Previous analysis of the Murray legislation shows that the typical family would pay no more than $45 a week for child care. For low-income families, early child-care costs would be fully covered. “The most hard-pressed families won’t have to spend a dime,” Biden said Tuesday. 

While the tax credit may help higher-income families more, the subsidy plan would be helpful for many, if not most, eligible families, Hamm says. “They would get direct assistance to help pay for child care rather than having to wait for their tax credit when they file,” Hamm tells CNBC Make It. “Because family payments are capped, a family at $100,000 is only going to pay $7,000 per year and that might be for multiple children.”