Findings

Over the course of ten debates—between June 26, 2019 and February 25, 2020–candidates and moderators barely mentioned equal pay, gender-based harassment, or paid family and medical leave. However, they raised the issue of college affordability 77 times.

Cost of College: 77 mentions

In every single debate, candidates debated the cost of a college education. In their discussions, they recognized the need to solve the student debt crisis and proposed solutions that ranged from lowering tuition to promising free tuition. In almost every debate (eight out of ten), moderators posed questions about college affordability. Debate six, on December 19, 2019, had the most mentions on this issue, totaling 13.

Childcare: 42 mentions

Childcare was the only work-family policy issue that was mentioned in every debate. Early on, during the second debate in Detroit, female candidates—Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—each raised the issue. The seventh debate featured the most mentions: ten in total. Throughout the debate, some candidates—particularly Warren—mentioned the issue regardless of whether moderators asked about it.

Equal Pay: 12 mentions

Equal pay, or the gender-based pay gap, was only mentioned in five of the ten debates. The first question about equal pay was posed to former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Sec. Julian Castro during the first debate in Miami on June 26, 2019. The issue received the most attention during the second debate in Detroit; altogether, candidates and moderators mentioned equal pay five times.

Gender-Based Workplace Harassment: 9 mentions

Harassment was rarely mentioned during the debate cycle. Notably, the fifth debate in Atlanta on November 20, 2019, had a slate of all female moderators—and one of the moderators asked a pointed question about the issue. The ninth and tenth debates on February 19 and 25 stood out because during those nights, the issue received the most air time. The issue took center stage due to the controversy involving the gender-based workplace harassment allegations against former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Sen. Warren’s demand that he release the involved parties from the nondisclosure agreements his company required them to sign. During the ninth and tenth debates, candidates spent four and five minutes discussing the topic, respectively.

Paid Family and Medical Leave: 9 mentions

This issue came up twice during the first debate in Miami and once during the second debate in Detroit. Mentions peaked during the fifth debate in Atlanta when moderators asked one question about it. Moderators and candidates did not bring up the issue again during the remainder of debates despite the fact that virtually all working people will need paid leave from work to care for a loved one or themselves at some point in their lives.

Warren was the leading voice on childcare throughout the primary campaigns. In February 2019, she released her plan for universal childcare, articulating her platform well in advance of her fellow candidates. Our analysis shows that she mentioned the need for affordable childcare fifteen times, and is responsible for nearly 36 percent of all total mentions.

Beginning with the second night of the first debate in Miami on June 27, 2019, Warren continuously raised the issue in some fashion, whether in an opening or closing statement, in response to a direct question, or indirectly, connecting it to another topic. In addition to Warren, Klobuchar also mentioned the issue on multiple occasions–seven times over the course of the ten debates. The comments made by these two candidates alone made up more than 50 percent of all childcare mentions. Both senators played a role in ensuring that the issue of affordable childcare had a place within the larger discourse happening on stage.