Child Care Aware® of America’s Chief of Policy, Michelle McCready had the pleasure of speaking with The Preschool Podcast, a platform for leaders in early childhood education to share their experiences, thoughts and insights in the world of early learning.

Child Care Aware® of America and Child Care Works have joined with CLASP, NWLC, NAEYC, NAFCC, NBCDI, YWCA, and ZERO TO THREE for national call-in day for child care.

Did you miss our child care policy briefing on March 23, 2017 for Congressional staffers on the issue of child care? Visit our Facebook page to see a recording of the live coverage.

Approximately 45 congressional staffers attend the event when CCAoA discussed the state of public investments in child care and early childhood development programs and what Congress can do both maintain and improve them. This briefing also discussed importance of federal child care programs like the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), as well as provided insight into how child care is critical to families, providers, and local businesses.

The most recent data shows that millennials are having children later in life than the generation before them. According to a study by Goldman Sachs, the median age for millennials to get married has increased from 23 to 30!

As I get older, I am bombarded with the following question: “When are you going to have children, Mia?”  It happens in every single family conversation! I usually shrug off the question and say that I’m just not ready. The truth? I am a struggling millennial, and between paying off my student loans, paying off my car, paying for insurance, and paying for the occasional meal out, I just can’t afford children. At least not right now.

The clash between the American dream and the American reality has gotten dramatically worse for millennials seeking to have a career and family, a battle outlined in stark details in a new report by Child Care Aware^® of America.

President Trump submitted his FY 2018 budget request to Congress. As expected, the President maintained his commitment to reducing all non-defense, discretionary programs by a total of $54 billion. However, his proposal includes cutting all federal support for two programs that are vital to low-income and working class communities; the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs.