On July 11, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy hosted a hearing examining the importance of paid family leave. Subcommittee Chairman, Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sponsored the hearing and witnesses included Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Dr. Andrew Biggs from the American Enterprise Institute, Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women and Families, and Carolyn Boyle from Deloitte Services, LLP.

For more than 10 years, Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) has reported on the unaffordability of child care for parents in states across the country. We’ve been expanding that reporting by diving deeper into county-level costs and exploring national, state-and community-level financing solutions to provide working families with some relief. Even as we’ve kept discussions on the unaffordability of child care going strong, we are often asked, “If parents are paying too much of their household budgets on child care, why are child care providers still struggling to make ends meet?” It’s a good question – one that I’ve had since I started CCAoA!

Earlier today, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a FY 2019 spending package by a 30-1 vote that proposes funding levels for child care and other early childhood programs for next year. The bill includes $5.3 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which is the same level the House Appropriations Committee proposed earlier this month, and honors the two-year congressional budget deal. The legislation urges states to use the funding to assist in compliance with the 2014 law and expand access to quality, affordable care.

WASHINGTON, DC — Dr. Lynette M. Fraga, executive director of Child Care Aware® of America, issued the following statement on the federal policy of separating children from their families when crossing the southern border into the United States:

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education approved its FY 2019 appropriations bill that includes proposed funding levels for child care and other early childhood programs. The Subcommittee includes $5.2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which is the same level as FY 2018.  While this is good news, and upholds the two-year congressional budget agreement from earlier this year, far more is needed in order to meet the child care need in the United States.