President Joe Biden visited a child care center in Connecticut Friday to argue that investments in child care and other social safety net programs are imperative to keep America competitive in the global economy. "How can we compete in a world if millions of Americans, parents, especially moms, can't be part of the workforce because they can't afford the cost of child care or elder care?" Biden said. Biden's administration has proposed raising child care worker wages to at least $15 an hour and to the same level as kindergarten teachers for those with similar qualifications. Pay raises are one of several measures meant to shore up the nation’s rickety child care system, which Democrats hope to fund with $450 billion included in their original social spending plan. Photo by Evan Vucci, @apnews