From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
Get any group of parents of young children together and the issue that comes up almost immediately (besides bedtime woes!) is the cost, concerns, and crisis of trying to find high-quality affordable childcare. And there is no wonder why: In 30 states and the District of Columbia, infant care costs exceed the average cost of college tuition. [1] And the early learning workforce, 94% of whom are women, are struggling significantly since childcare is one of the lowest paying industries in the United States. [2]
Parents and early learning providers alike are struggling to make ends meet. We know by now that this isn’t a series of personal failings, but a systemic problem that is happening nationally because we have a broken childcare system.
Leaders in the U.S. Congress know this too because we have spent years flooding them with your stories, signatures, and calls. They know moms and dads are struggling. Moms like Morgen who writes,
“My husband and I devote one quarter of our income toward quality childcare for our only child. This has affected our decision not to grow our family, not to strike out on our own and start our own business, and not to move to a safer neighborhood.”
Congress is will soon be negotiating funding for the coming year so now is the right time to take action and ask for bold funding for programs that help address the childcare crisis in the U.S.
That is why we need you to sign our letter to Congress TODAY at http://action.momsrising.org/sign/CCDBG_2018/ asking them to support a significant increase in funding for high-quality, affordable childcare for families like Morgen’s!
High-quality early learning is essential to meet the needs of children and their families. It helps children get the solid start they need and their parents get and keep the jobs they need to support their families. This includes early learning professionals who are teaching and caring for our children while also trying to afford childcare of their own. Early learning professionals are some of the lowest paid workers in our country—and have hourly wages that are 23 percent lower than similar workers in other occupations— and rarely receive job-based benefits that support their health and well-being. [3] Working families are between a rock and a hard place: parents can’t afford to pay any more and childcare workers need to be paid a living wage. It’s time for serious investments.
Luckily we have leaders in Congress looking out for our littlest learners and economy! Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA) have introduced a spending bill that would increase the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to $2.9 billion, giving states needed resources to expand child care assistance to nearly 230,000 additional children. It would also provide sufficient funds for states to implement bipartisan rules to improve the health, safety and quality of child care. [4]
CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for childcare subsidies for low-income families, and to improve child care quality for all children. While it has historically received bi-partisan support, the funding for this program has failed to meet the needs of many families struggling to afford high-quality early learning opportunities for their children.
Congress authorizing this funding will show that they are serious about addressing the child care crisis in America and it’s not just campaign rhetoric.
We know there is so much we still need to do to make sure families get the child care they want and need and that our early learning providers are able to earn a livable wage. Increasing the funding for the existing programs is a positive first step and will greatly help those families currently struggling to make ends meet. We will keep speaking out for comprehensive early learning legislation that makes high-quality child care and pre-K more affordable and accessible and supports our early learning professionals. This means also continuing to build momentum to usher in bold and far-reaching legislation, like the Child Care for Working Families Act, which MomsRising helped introduce in September. [5]
After you take action and sign our letter, please post our action link to Facebook and encourage your friends to take action as well. Congress is currently debating spending for the remainder of the year, so we need as many people to speak out as possible and tell our leaders in Washington, D.C. that we want them to prioritize spending for high-quality, affordable child care.
Thank you for all you do to create a brighter future for our littlest learners!
P.S. Can you share your story about how your childcare is or isn’t working for you? Being able to share the stories of real parents, like Morgen’s story above, makes a real difference in convincing lawmakers to support early learning legislation. Share your experiences with us here!
[1] Child Care Aware. “Parents and the High Cost of Childcare: 2017.” [2] Julie Kashen, Halley Potter, and Andrew Stettner. “Quality Jobs, Quality Child Care.” The Century Foundation, June 13, 2016. [3] Arthur J. Rolnick and Rob Grunewald. “Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return.” FedGazette, March 2003. [4] Hannah Matthews. “Democratic Proposal Would Expand Child Care Assistance to Nearly 230,000 Children.” CLASP, December 2017. [5] “MomsRising Leader Urges Speedy Passage of the Child Care for Working Families Act.” MomsRising, September 14, 2017.
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