From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
Summer break is over, and not only are kids back in school, Congress is now back in session! We don’t know what summer and the last year and a half looked like for members of Congress, but on our end, it looked like a frazzled parent hiding out in the car in front of my house for 15 minutes after grocery shopping. But maybe that was just us…
That’s why we need Congress to MOVE FORWARD as soon as possible on solutions that can help us and our families! Go to https://action.momsrising.org/sign/Congress-welcome-child-care to urge your elected leaders to make a comprehensive, affordable, high-quality child care and Pre-K system for families a reality by passing the Build Back Better Plan.
Listen, we KNOW that this past summer (and frankly, the past year and a half) has taken a toll on all of us. From women, especially women of color, being forced out of the workplace in record numbers due to a lack of child care [1], to child care centers struggling to stay open, [2] to our children going through unprecedented social-emotional challenges – and even more so for kids of color and kids with disabilities. [3][4] This is why we need real SOLUTIONS that can put our country on the right track so that we can all thrive.
The good news is that we are already on that path! Child Care and Pre-K have passed the U.S. House of Representatives – which is HUGE! But this movement in the House is just the first step. It’s critical that the U.S. Senate and all of Congress continue to advance child care and early learning so we can end the struggle with child care for families throughout the country, boost our economy, and help businesses.
Like clean water, safe food, and good public schools, high-quality, affordable child care is a national priority that benefits everyone. [5] We as a country want to ensure that all children, families, and communities can thrive – and we have the ability to do that by coming together to invest in a bright future for all of us.
This is OUR moment. Now that child care has passed the U.S. House, now we need to get it through the U.S. Senate and through all of Congress to get to victory. In other words, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to let our elected leaders know that we need sufficient funding for child care and early learning so that we can build a nation where every child can thrive, including:
- No family pays more than 7% of their income on child care
- Child care providers are paid living, family-supporting wages
- Families can find affordable, high-quality child care no matter where they live
Right now, we are in a moment where Congress is poised to build a child care infrastructure! And the clock is ticking. For too long, chronic underinvestment in child care has wreaked havoc on a family’s economic stability, gender, racial and economic inequality, child development, and school readiness. Child care remains extremely expensive and out of reach for too many families. For low-income families, child care expenses for children under five eat up 35% of their income [6], and in more than half of states, child care for an infant in a child care center costs more than in-state college tuition! [7]
The current lack of childcare doesn’t just hurt families, it hurts businesses and our economy too. In fact, there have been major economic impacts as well, American businesses lose an estimated $12.7 billion each year due to child care challenges. [8]
But it doesn’t have to be this way! We can fix this!
It’s time to push Congress to help us achieve a historic VICTORY by making the biggest investment in child care and early learning in decades a reality.
Thank you for joining our team as we stand together for child care!
References:
[1] “The Primal Scream: America’s Mothers are in Crisis”[2] “After mass closures, too little support, post-pandemic child care options will be scarce”
[3] “A National Agenda for Children’s Mental Health”
[4] “Mental health implications of COVID-19 on children with disabilities”
[5] PDF: “PRINCIPLES FOR CHILD CARE: A VISION FOR INVESTING IN HIGH-QUALITY, AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE”
[6] “Working Families Are Spending Big Money on Child Care”
[7] “The First Pillar of Care: Cost”
[8] “The Child Care Crisis Is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce”
Leave a Reply