2024 U.S. Presidential Party Platforms - What are the policy positions that could affect families?

While the laws that affect family formation, marriage and divorce are often made at the state level, there are also many policies and laws at the federal level that affect families and children.  Just some examples from recent years that have impacted families in my mediation practice include changes to the federal tax laws (such as the elimination of the alimony tax deduction) and U.S. Supreme Court rulings on same sex marriage and reproductive health rights.  In just over a month, the United States presidential election will have a significant impact on these federal policies going forward, and could choose the next appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court as well.

In 2016 and 2020 we shared what each presidential platform said about families and policy regarding family formation and dissolution, and below we'll provide you an update on the 2024 presidential platforms. 

As Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."  There are significant differences between the presidential candidates, and their platforms and while elected officials don't usually complete what their platform aspires to accomplish, it is still the best information available on what they intend to do.  Since this blog focuses primarily on the impact of the law on families and family conflict, we will concentrate on only those portion of the presidential platforms but we have linked the full platforms for you below:  

How does each 2024 U.S. Presidential Platform address families in America?

The 2024 Republic Party Platform is 28 pages long with 17 pages of text.  It mentions the words "family" or "families" 18 times, the words "parents" or "parental" 6 times,  "child" or "children" 8 times, and the word "marriage" once.  The Republican party platform never uses the words "gay", "lesbian", "LGBT", or "transgender", but does reference "gender" 4 times.

Below are some excerpts from the Republic party platform's policies relevant to families:

The Republican Party Platform mentions the importance of supporting American families in multiple sections and identifies the following policies they intend to implement to support American families:

Excerpt from Chapter 1 - Defeat Inflation, and Quickly Bring Down All Prices

#4. Stop Illegal Immigration

"Republicans will secure the Border, deport Illegal Aliens, and reverse the Democrats’ Open Borders Policies that have driven up the cost of Housing, Education, and Healthcare for American families."

Excerpt from Chapter 2: Seal the Border, and Stop the Migrant Invasion

#2. Enforce Immigration Laws

"Republicans will strengthen ICE, increase penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstate “Remain in Mexico” and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration to historic lows in President Trump’s first term. We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of Illegal Alien gang violence once and for all. We will bring back the Travel Ban, and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately."

Excerpt from Chapter 6 - Protect Seniors

4. Protect Care at Home for the Elderly

"Republicans will shift resources back to at-home Senior Care, overturn disincentives that lead to Care Worker shortages, and support unpaid Family Caregivers through Tax Credits and reduced red tape."

Excerpt from Chapter 7 - Cultivate Great K-12 Schools Leading to Great Jobs and Great Lives for Young People

#22. Universal School Choice

"Republicans believe families should be empowered to choose the best Education for their children. We support Universal School Choice in every State in America. We will expand 529 Education Savings Accounts and support Homeschooling Families equally."

The Republican Party Platform only mentions marriage and family formation in the following contexts:

Excerpt from Chapter 8 - Bring Common Sense to Government and Renew the Pillars of American Civilization

#1. Empower American Families

"Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families."

Excerpt from Chapter 9 - Government, Of, By, and For the People 

#4. Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life

"We proudly stand for families and Life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."

Finally, the Republican Party Platform mentions gender in the following contexts:

Excerpt from Chapter 7 - Cultivate Great K-12 Schools Leading to Great Jobs and Great Lives for Young People

#6. Knowledge and Skills, Not CRT and Gender Indoctrination

"Republicans will ensure children are taught fundamentals like Reading, History, Science, and Math, not Leftwing propaganda. We will defund schools that engage in inappropriate political indoctrination of our children using Federal Taxpayer Dollars."

Excerpt from Chapter 9 - Government, Of, By, and For the People

# 5. Republicans Will End Left-wing Gender Insanity

"We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls."

Read the full 2024 Republic Party Platform here

The 2024 Democratic Party Platform is 92 pages long with 89 pages of text.  It mentions the words "family" or "families" 153 times (including the last word of the entire Platform), the words "parents" or "parental" 17 times,  "child" or "children" 95 times, and the word "marriage" 3 times.  The Democratic party platform uses the words "gay", "lesbian", or "LGBTQI+" 41 times, and references "gender" or "transgender" 19 times.

Below are some excerpts from the Democratic party platform's policies relevant to families:

The Democratic Party Platform mentions the importance of supporting families in multiple places focusing on the financial impact of inflation, taxes, education costs, medical costs, and student debt relief.  These are some of the specific policies the platform identifies the Democratic party intends to implement to support American families:

Excerpt from Chapter Two: Rewarding Work, Not Wealth

CUTTING TAXES FOR WORKING FAMILIES

"Democrats will protect everyone earning less than $400,000 a year from any tax increase; and we will fight to protect and expand other tax benefits for working people and families with children."

"During the pandemic, Democrats expanded the Child Tax Credit, saving nearly 40 million families with 65 million children up to $3,600 per child per year, and cutting child poverty nearly in half to its lowest rate on record. We expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit as well, saving over 17 million low-paid workers an average $700 a year. And, we expanded the health insurance premium tax credit, saving millions of families who buy coverage on an Affordable Care Act exchange about $800 a year."

Excerpts from Chapter Three: Lowering Costs

CHILD CARE, HOME CARE, & PAID LEAVE

"That plan will create America’s first, full, national paid family and medical leave program, guaranteeing every American worker up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a new child or loved one to recover from an illness, in cases of domestic violence, or military deployment. It will help families care for one another, and it will help businesses retain valuable talent and small businesses to compete. Millions more parents will be able to work, and it will add hundreds of billions to our economy. Democrats have pushed for this for decades. It’s past time that America caught up with the rest of the world."

EDUCATION

"We know that education starts well before kids go to kindergarten. Studies show that children who attend preschool are nearly 50 percent more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two- or four-year degree, no matter their background. That’s why Democrats will provide free, universal preschool for four-year olds, saving the families of 5 million children $13,000 a year."

"His Administration already approved the cancellation of $167 billion in loans for nearly 5 million borrowers, including nearly a million public servants like teachers, nurses, and police; and it has outlined plans to deliver relief to 30 million borrowers in all. Meanwhile, its new SAVE plan is the most affordable student-loan repayment plan in history, helping 8 million Americans – including more than 4.5 million who now have a $0 monthly payment. These savings will transform lives, freeing people to buy a house, to start a family, or to launch a business with new hope."

The Democratic Party Platform mentions marriage in the context of marriage equality and references family formation issues such as adoption and reproductive freedom, and addresses gender and trans-gender discrimination in this section:

Excerpt from Chapter Six: Strengthening Democracy, Protecting Freedoms, & Advancing Equity

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

"President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are fighting back to restore reproductive freedom for every woman in every state. President Biden signed three executive orders and a presidential memorandum to stand up for reproductive rights. The Administration is protecting access to abortion, including by creating a new path for pharmacies to dispense FDA-approved medication abortion and defending access in court. It is expanding reproductive health care for service members, veterans, and their family members. The Administration is defending access to emergency medical care, including clarifying that federal law on emergency care preempts state abortion bans, educating patients on their rights, making it easier for patients who have been denied emergency care to file a complaint, and ensuring hospitals meet their legal obligations to offer care. It is challenging threats from Republicans to prosecute people who help women travel to a different state for abortion care, and helping states expand access under Medicaid for women who travel from states with bans. We are safeguarding patients’ and providers’ privacy, including by strengthening HIPAA protections, cracking down on the illegal sharing of personal information, strengthening consumer data protections, and issuing guidance to protect student privacy in this area. And we are ensuring access to accurate information and legal resources, including by launching ReproductiveRights.gov and convening more than 200 lawyers and advocates to support abortion-related legal defense services."

"Nine in 10 women have used contraception, and Democrats are also working to expand access to birth control. Under President Biden’s leadership, the FDA approved the first over-the-counter daily oral contraceptive, making birth control easier than ever to access. President Biden has also built on the Affordable Care Act to make a broader range of contraceptives available to women at no cost through their health insurance. The 49 Administration has boosted access to free and low-cost services through the Title X family planning program, and expanded access to birth control for service members and through the VA."

LGBTQI+

"President Biden is committed to leading the most pro-equality Administration in history. Democrats passed and President Biden signed the historic Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining marriage equality in federal law."

"When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still wrong. That’s why Democrats will pass the Equality Act to codify protections for LGBTQI+ Americans and their families. We will prohibit employment discrimination in the federal government, including contractors, and make federally-funded seniors programs LGBTQI+ inclusive. And we have and will continue to make great strides in protecting LGBTQI+ children and prospective parents in the adoption and foster care systems."

"Democrats will continue to fight for LGBTQI+ youth by building on President Biden’s historic actions to ban so-called “conversion therapy”; protecting LGBTQI+ children from bullying and discrimination; guaranteeing that transgender students are treated fairly and with respect at school; and ending the homeless crisis among LGBTQI+ youth. "

"LGBTQI+ Americans have long faced threats to their safety just for being who they are. President Biden launched the LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership to provide community safety trainings, support health care providers who serve the LGBTQI+ community, and support LGBTQI+ communities to report hate crimes, and build cross-community partnerships to address hate-fueled violence. The Justice Department is taking an all-of-department approach to protecting LGBTQI+ rights. Democrats will end violence against transgender Americans, especially Black and brown transgender women, and prioritize the investigation of hate crimes against trans and non-binary people."

The Democratic Party Platform also focuses on the impact of children and families from mass shootings and the opioid epidemic: 

Excerpt from Chapter Five: Protecting Communities & Tackling  the Scourge of Gun Violence

GUN SAFETY

"The gun violence epidemic is a scourge ripping apart our communities; it is the leading cause of death for children and teens. Mass shootings at schools, grocery stores, houses of worship, dancehalls, and nightclubs, as well as daily gun violence at home and on streets, devastate American families."

"Democrats will establish universal background checks, a step supported by the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners. We will once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We will require safe storage for guns. Democrats will end the gun industry’s immunity from liability, so gunmakers can no longer escape accountability. We will pass a national red flag law to prevent tragedies by keeping weapons out of dangerous hands. We will increase funding to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) for enforcement and prosecution, and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for firearm background checks. And, because the gun violence epidemic is a public health crisis, we will fund gun violence research across the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as community violence interventions."

Excerpt from Chapter Eight: Advancing the President’s Unity Agenda

BEATING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

"For too long, the scourge of opioids has torn through our communities, ripping apart families and shattering lives. Our nation’s opioid epidemic impacts Americans in every corner of the country, from small towns to large cities to Tribal lands. Far too many Americans have lost loved ones to addiction and overdose. 

The Biden-Harris Administration is strengthening prevention, investing in treatment, and expanding recovery support services..."

Lastly, the Democratic Party Platform ends with a foreign policy plan and policies related to the U.S. Military.  The last line of the entire Platform follows:

Excerpt from Chapter Nine: Strengthening American Leadership Worldwide

STRONGEST MILITARY IN THE WORLD

"And he will continue to always put our veterans and military families first by securing additional pay raises for service members, accessible and affordable childcare for our military families, good-paying job opportunities for military spouses, effective suicide and sexual assault prevention programs, and benefits for our veterans and their families."

Read the full 2024 Democratic Party Platform here

The 2024 Green Party Platform is approximately 200 pages long when printed from their website.  It mentions the words "family" or "families" 26 times, the words "parents" or "parental" 14 times,  "child" or "children" 59 times, and the word "marriage" 5 times.  The Green party platform uses the words "gay", "lesbian", or "lgbtqia" 10 times, and references "gender" or "transgender" 30 times.

Below are some of the excerpts from the Green party platform's discussions relevant to families:

The Green Party Platform has a section specifically titled "Families and Children" which references other sections and summarizes the way that the Green party proposes to support families:

Excerpt from I. Democracy - B. Community

1. Families and Children

a. We call for social policies to focus on protecting families. The young— our citizens of tomorrow— are increasingly at risk. Programs must ensure that children, who are among the most vulnerable members of society, receive basic nutritional, educational, and medical necessities. The Green Party supports and seeks to expand Head Start and Pre- and neo-natal programs. A Children's Agenda should be put in place to focus attention and concerted action on the future that is our children. [See section A.8. Youth Rights in chapter II]

b. A universal, federally funded childcare program for pre-school and young school children should be developed.

c. Family assistance such as the earned income tax credit, available to working poor families in which the parent supports and lives with the children, should be maintained and increased to offset regressive payroll taxes and growing inequalities in American society. [See section E. True Cost Pricing and 

Tax Fairness in chapter IV]

d. A living family wage is vital to the social health of communities [See section D. Livable Income in chapter IV]

e. The actuarial protection of social security is essential to the well-being of our seniors, and maintenance of the system's integrity is an essential part of a healthy community. We oppose privatization of social security, call for the program to remain under the aegis of the Federal Government, and seek to expand its effectiveness. [See section M. National Debt in chapter IV]

f. We support the leading-edge work of non-profit public interest groups and those individuals breaking out of "careerism" to pursue non-traditional careers in public service.

The Green Party Platform also focuses on women's rights and how that issue affects families both in the United States and Internationally:

Excerpt from II. Social Justice - A. Civil Rights and Equal Rights

1. Women's Rights

Social Equality

"a. We support the equal application of the Constitution of the United States of America to all citizens, and therefore call for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)..."
"b. We call for equal representation of women in Congress, which has not yet been achieved."

"c. The Green Party calls for U.S. passage of CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted in 1979 by the U.N. General Assembly and now ratified by nearly all countries. The U.S. is one of the very few countries that have not ratified it."

Reproductive Rights

"Women’s rights must be protected and expanded to guarantee each woman’s right as a full participant in society, free from sexual harassment, job discrimination or interference in the intensely personal choice about whether to have a child."

"Women’s right to control their bodies is non-negotiable. It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available. The “morning-after” pill must be affordable and easily accessible without a prescription, together with a government-sponsored public relations campaign to educate women about this form of contraception. Clinics must be accessible and must offer advice on contraception and the means for contraception; consultation about abortion and the performance of abortions; and abortion regardless of age or marital status."

The Green Party Platform addresses gender and trans-gender discrimination in this section:

Excerpt from II. Social Justice - A. Civil Rights and Equal Rights

6. "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity"

"1. The Green Party affirms the rights of all individuals to freely choose intimate partners, regardless of their sex, gender, or gender identity."

"2. The Green Party recognizes the full civil rights of sexual and gender minorities. The existing civil rights act prohibits discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability. We will work to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to the existing civil rights act."

The Green Party Platform also has a section on potential reforms related to adoption: 

Excerpt from II. Social Justice - A. Civil Rights and Equal Rights

12. "Adoptee Rights"

"Due to current laws millions of adults that were adopted as children are now being denied access to vital records regarding their births. This is a basic human right that the Green Party should be committed to help in abolishing the secrets and lies that surround many adoptions around the world by creating necessary transparency between adoptees, their mothers and adoptive parents."

Read the full 2020 Green Party Platform here.

The current Libertarian Party Platform (adopted in 2022) is 10 pages long with 8 pages of text.  It does not mention the words "family" or "families."  It mentions the words "parents" or "parental" 6 times,  "child" or "children" 6 times, and the word "marriage" twice.  The Libertarian party platform does not use the words "gay", "lesbian", or "LGBT", and references "gender" twice.

Below are some of the excerpts from the Libertarian party platform's discussions relevant to families:

Excerpt from 1.4 Personal Relationships

"Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration, or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, promote, license, or restrict personal relationships, regardless of the number of participants. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. Until such time as the government stops its illegitimate practice of marriage licensing, such licenses must be granted to all consenting adults who apply."

Excerpt from 1.5 "Parental Rights"

"Parents, or other guardians, have the right to raise their children according to their own standards and beliefs, provided that the rights of children to be free from abuse and neglect are also protected."

Read the full 2016 Libertarian Platform here.

If you want additional assistance finding information about the presidential elections as well as state and local elections, check out Vote like a Beast.com, which is a collection of many resources and links for finding voting information.

Finally, a note from the author:  In 2020, I was open about my endorsement of Joe Biden for President and condemnation of the threat Donald Trump's policies presented to democratic election integrity and to human rights for all individuals and families in the United States of America.  In 2024, I believe this is still true and that the Republican platform chooses specifically to endorse only one type of family rather than treat all families with equal dignity and respect.  For that and other reasons, I support Kamala Harris for President in the 2024 election.

With that being said I have strived to present the information objectively above, quoting directly from the sources with links to the full platforms.  I have done this specifically so you can decide for yourselves (and we encourage all eligible voters to vote in the upcoming election).