Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to support the reintroduction of the Child Care for Working Families Act and thanks Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) for their leadership on behalf of our country’s children, families, child care providers, and communities. 81% of parents say that expanding access to affordable, quality child care should be a top or high priority for both federal and state policymakers—thank you Senator Murray and Representative Scott for acting on parents’ priorities.
As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care.
The Child Care for Working Families Act invests in growing an affordable, accessible, and equitable child care system that is better designed to support working families. The bill importantly recognizes the infrastructure the child care system needs to function, and provides grants to expand the supply of child care providers; funds grants to cover child care program start-up, licensure, and quality improvement costs; and ensures the child care workforce is paid a living wage. Additionally, the bill identifies the important role Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) organizations play as essential hubs for information and resources in communities across the country and includes them as partners in the child care system.
Child Care Aware® of America urges Congress to support this comprehensive legislation that would address access, affordability, and quality in child care and early learning.