WASHINGTON The American economic model punishes workers for having children, between a lack of paid leave and exorbitant child care costs. Its the biggest reason child poverty is so high in the U.S. were making kids poor because we make their parents poor for having them.

For the first time in more than a decade, this might actually become an electoral concern.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pushing for universal child care as part of her 2020 presidential campaign, and on Tuesday her Senate colleagues unveiled a similar proposal at the Capitol. Its one of several big ideas for reducing poverty that Democratic presidential contenders are proposing in Congress. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) are pushing housing affordability , while Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) would give parents a monthly allowance to defray parenting costs.

Most other countries throw money at parents, guarantee paid leave for births as well as other family medical needs, and finance child care systems that are available to everybody at a relatively low cost. The U.S. does none of those things and has higher child poverty than most other countries with lasting consequences.

Impoverishing children results in reduced adult productivity along with higher crime and health costs, and it wastes as much as a trillion dollars per year. Thats according to a landmark National Academy of Sciences report released this week by a panel of experts who reviewed the literature on child poverty and discussed ways to reduce it.

If we believe in the future of the country and we want people to get out there and work hard and support their families, we have to invest in kids, said the University of Wisconsins Timothy Smeeding, who served on the committee that produced the report.