Mike Pence shifts on working mothers, day care

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence says he’s changed his mind on the cultural cost of working mothers. 

In a 1997 letter to the Indianapolis Star, the now-Indiana Governor said children who attend daycare as a result of having a working mother “get the short end of the emotional stick.”  Pence appeared on Face the Nation Sunday morning and told moderator John Dickerson that he has changed his mind.

“We’ve all had changing attitudes about this.” Pence said and added, “As you grow up, John, you learn a little bit as you go along the way.”

Pence’s statement comes after his Republican running mate Donald Trump put forward a maternity leave plan offering six paid weeks of maternity leave.  During his interview, Pence stated that America needs to “do a better job opening doorways to economic opportunities for working moms.”

“I strongly support the, the reforms in taxes and in the benefits that will make it possible not only for maternity leave but for families to fully deduct the cost of childcare,” Pence said.

The governor looked at his own state of Indiana as an example and referenced Indiana’s public funding for “quality pre-K education.”

“The key now is, in this 21st economy is that we open doors of opportunity for women and men to fully participate in this economy,” he said.

For more of our interview with Pence, click here.