Reality Check: the ‘Biden Plan’ claims to benefit you, here’s how it would work

An ad from Joe Biden lines out a few ideas for middle- and lower- income Americans, from tax credits to increased wages and Social Security benefits.
His four points are all backed up by policies on his website, but they aren’t completely in his control. Everything he says he wants would come through legislation, so the outcome of congressional races affects what he could do.

Claim: “Families with young children could get nearly $7,000 for childcare.”

According to his plan on his website, this figure comes from the up to $8,000 tax credit families can get for childcare. The plan gives up to 50% reimbursement for the cost of childcare for families making less than $125,000 a year, with a cap of $8,000 back for one child and $16,000 back for two or more. If your household makes between $125,000 and $400,000, his site says you’d be eligible for a partial credit.

Claim: “Buying your first home – you’ll get $15,000 toward the down payment.”

The plan mimics a temporary tax credit that was part of the recovery from the great recession – except this would be allowed to be paid in advance, and it would be permanent. In the recovery credit, first-time homebuyers could apply for a credit of 10% of the purchase price of a home. A spokesperson for the Biden campaign did not clarify if the credit would work the same this time around.

Claim: “If you get paid by the hour, your income could grow by as much as $14,000.”

This only applies if you make less than $15 an hour, to which Biden wants to raise the minimum wage. His team measured the difference between $15 and $7.25, times that by working 40 hours a week 50 weeks out of the year, and that’s $15,500 gross more.


Claim: “Older seniors, your yearly Social Security benefits could increase by $1,300.”

This one comes from his policy idea to pay those who have collected Social Security for 20 or more years a higher monthly check. According to a policy analyst who previously worked in the Social Security Administration, Biden would also use a different index specific to the elderly for cost of living adjustments. Those two changes combined would give slight bumps to monthly checks for social security, on average about $110 a month or just over $1,300 a year.

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