On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton announced a new proposal that would expand the child tax credit in effort to provide greater economic relief to lower- and middle-class families.

Under the current tax structure, families can receive a maximum tax credit of $1,000 per child under the age of 17 (eligibility for this full amount varies by annual income and number of children). With Clinton's plan, the credit would double to $2,000 per child aged 4 and under. In simple terms (as explained by NPR): If you just had a baby, owe $3,000 in taxes, and qualify for Clinton's proposed credit, the amount you'd actually pay would drop down to $1,000.

The campaign additionally announced plans for greater tax "refundability," meaning that even if a family doesn't actually earn enough money to pay income tax—a category that applies to 45 percent of Americans—they'll still get money back from the government to help pay the high costs of raising a child.

“Under our current system millions of families do not qualify for the full credit or get very little benefit because they simply do not make enough money," the Clinton campaign said in a statement on Tuesday (via Bloomberg Politics). The existing tax code requires families to exclude the first $3,000 of their earnings before calculating a refund; Clinton would do away with this stipulation in her proposal.

“Hard-working, middle-class families are struggling with rising costs for child care, health care, care-giving and college,” the Clinton campaign said. “This new tax credit will make their lives a little bit easier and help restore fairness to our economy.”

According to Victoria A. Budson, the founder and executive director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Clinton's plan will be a major victory for lower-earning families—especially for women who choose to leave their jobs because they can't afford the cost of child care.

"One of the key things for women is to have support during the period of time when they have very young children, and caring for them can often push women out of paid labor force," Budson said. "When women have enough support that they can stay in that labor force, their kids have better outcomes throughout all of their lives—as do women. Women who wish to work outside the home will have the supports to do so, as well as greater tax relief."

Improving and expanding child care has been a cornerstone issue for Clinton throughout her campaign, and this recent proposal is just the latest in a series of measures to make life a little easier for working class families. Clinton has vowed to make 12 weeks of paid family leave the national standard and wants to pass legislation guaranteeing that no family allocates more than 10 percent of its annual income on child care costs.

Republican nominee Donald Trump has also made child care a central issue in his campaign, but his proposed policies mostly benefit higher-earning households. In August, he announced a plan that would make the "average cost of child care" tax deductible, but with no actual average on record, it is hard to deduce how much that will actually amount to. And for the 45 percent of Americans who do not earn enough to file for income tax, Trump's proposal would not offset any of their child care costs. Trump has also proposed a dependent care savings account that would, essentially, provide refunds to families who set aside money (up to $2,000 annually) to cover child and elder care costs. However, much like his plan to make child care costs tax deductible, the dependent care savings plan would not benefit lower-income families—many of which would not have the financial resources to set aside the money needed to qualify.