Congressional candidate welcomes daughter, will champion guaranteed accessible high-quality childcare as a key priority
BOSTON, MA – Patrick Roath, Democratic candidate for Massachusetts’ 8th Congressional District, today announced that he and his wife Vicky Guo welcomed their first child earlier this week. In connection with becoming a father, Roath is laying out a comprehensive plan to address the childcare affordability crisis, drawing from his own experience to confront the reality that infant care in Massachusetts costs on average more than $26,000 annually—exceeding UMass tuition.
“Vicky and I just welcomed our first child, and like every parent across our district, we’re facing the crushing reality that quality, affordable childcare options simply do not exist for most families,” said Roath. “From Quincy to Brockton, families are spending up to 40% of their income just to be able to work. That is unsustainable. After 24 years of inaction from status quo politicians, we need transformative federal action. The time for universally accessible childcare has come.”
Roath’s comprehensive plan (posted on Substack and available on his website) would make childcare free for families earning below $100,000. For families above that threshold, costs would be capped at 7% of income—meaning a family earning $150,000 would pay just $10,500 annually instead of today’s $26,000+. The ultimate goal is establishing $10-per-day universal childcare for all families earning under $250,000. The plan would push to expand supply by directly defraying the costs associated with opening new childcare centers, and rewarding communities that agree to streamline regulations.
The proposal builds on legislation from Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Building Child Care for a Better Future Act and Representative Katherine Clark’s Child Care Infrastructure Act, while adding innovative market-based mechanisms to rapidly expand supply.
Beyond childcare, Roath’s family affordability agenda includes bringing Massachusetts’ successful paid family leave model nationwide, restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit that cut child poverty in half, universal pre-K for all 3 and 4-year-olds, and fully funding Head Start to serve all eligible children with full-day, year-round programs that match working parents’ schedules.
The childcare plan represents a key plank in Roath’s campaign to unseat Lynch in the September 2026 Democratic primary. Roath, who previously served as speechwriter for Governor Deval Patrick and Board Chair of Common Cause Massachusetts, has pledged to refuse corporate PAC money and has raised over $500,000 from individual donors to date. He is running an optimistic and forward-thinking campaign, centered on plans to make Massachusetts affordable for everyone and fix our broken politics.