As someone who grew up with two parents who worked long hours — my father, as a bartender; my mother, as a hotel maid — and as a working parent myself, I know how hard it can be to balance work and family. But I also know how important it is too, because strong families are the foundation of America. And we can’t have strong families, or a strong economy, without moms and dads being able to be involved in our kids’ lives.

Recognizing this, many American employers already do provide generous paid leave policies, including paid time off when they have a child, need to help a sick family member, or have a family member deploying for the military. Businesses are already required to provide twelve weeks of unpaid leave for those purposes.

But too many Americans don’t have access to paid leave to help their families. Under the status quo, new mothers too often leave their job entirely and put their careers on hold, instead of taking some time off and then returning to work when they’re ready. More support for parents in such circumstances would help make stronger families, and it would allow the parents to continue their careers with less disruption. Promoting voluntary paid leave would, in other words, be good for our economy and our families.

But Democrats’ proposals on this issue would actually be counter-productive. Liberals have proposed a new government entitlement that would be funded by a new job-killing payroll tax increase that would hit every single working American and business. Hillary Clinton says her plan would be funded with unspecified tax hikes on the wealthy. Those are exactly the kind of ideas that will hold our economy back, kill jobs, and slash the paychecks of Americans trying to support their families. Small businesses are struggling enough under the weight of big government, and new mandates and tax increases like this would make a bad situation worse by increasing their costs.

I have a better solution. Under my plan, we won’t raise taxes or impose new mandates on job creators. Instead, we will encourage businesses to offer paid leave by offering them a limited tax cut for the cost of providing this benefit.

It’s part of the broader pro-family, pro-growth agenda I’ve outlined, with more detail than anyone else in the Republican field. In addition to promoting voluntary paid leave, my pro-growth, pro-family tax reform plan would provide a new child tax credit, to help working families cope with the rising costs of raising children in America. I also support improving workplace flexibility beyond paid leave, such as allowing employers to offer paid leave instead of monetary compensation in return for overtime work.

Raising kids and holding a demanding job in the 21st century isn’t easy — believe me, I know. But we need solutions that strengthen families and empower parents without undermining America’s unique economic dynamism. The stale ideas we’re seeing from the Democratic presidential field would do exactly that, and there’s nothing that would be worse for the American family than putting the American Dream even more out of reach than it has become under President Obama.

I believe we need smart, forward-thinking policies to make this a New American Century, where American families and workers can flourish. That’s what I’ve set out to do with my paid leave plan, and what I will do as President.