Associated Press

For parents who need to work but can’t afford the steep cost of child care, federally funded scholarships can be a lifeline. Delivered through state child care assistance programs, the scholarships can mean the difference between a parent working full time — or not at all.

But qualified families increasingly are being turned away, thanks to the rising costs of child care and the end of pandemic-era funds, and some families that had scholarships have seen them end. In three states — Arizona, Colorado and Texas — parents who apply face long waitlists. Other states, including Nevada and Oklahoma, have increased copayments for parents or have said they will serve fewer children, according to the advocacy group Child Care Aware of America. In Idaho, enrollment was paused for part of last year.

Read the full article. 

NBC News

Many families have been effectively cutting a second rent check to send their kids to day care, according to new data from the Department of Labor.

Business Insider

Cities and counties across the US are coming up with ways to make childcare more affordable — and many are turning to taxes.

Colorado has a policy that allows taxpayers who donate to qualifying child care facilities and programs to claim an income tax credit equal to 50% of their contribution.

To be sure, local tax revenue cannot replace funding for America's whole childcare system. Anne Hedgepeth, the senior vice president of policy and research at the advocacy organization Child Care Aware of America, told BI in an email statement that local policies are a complement larger state-level and federal funding pools.

"Additional funding is paramount to building a strong child care system," she said. "And it is positive to see localities interested in supporting their child care systems and taking action."

Read the full article.

NPR

Child care was on the ballot in several cities and counties across the country.

In Austin, Texas, where voters weighed whether to raise property taxes, advocates noted that a year of child care costs more than a year of tuition at the University of Texas at Austin.

In Sonoma County, Calif., where a new sales tax was on the ballot, a year of infant care can cost more than a year at the University of California, Berkeley. And still, demand is high. A report found the pandemic had decimated the county's child care workforce to such a degree that it was left with just over half of the child care slots it once had.

Meanwhile, in a statement early Wednesday, the advocacy group Child Care Aware of America, urged the incoming Trump administration and Congress to work toward broader solutions.

"The American people have resoundingly called for — both before and during the election cycle — affordable, accessible, quality child care solutions," wrote the organization's CEO Susan Gale Perry.

Read the full article. 

Getty Images

The 19th

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: April 4, 2024 

Many families that receive government assistance for child care still pay a lot out-of-pocket. A new Biden administration rule will lower those costs and improve payments to day care providers.

For more than a decade, Erin Farias has watched the low-income families who send children to the day cares she runs navigate America’s broken child care system. Many of those parents had government assistance for school tuition, but half the time, Farias couldn’t count on them to make their co-payments. They were still too high.

Read Full Article.

Marketplace

This was originally published on March 27, 2024

The child care crisis in America just got a bit of relief. In the latest government funding bill just approved by the White House, there’s a $1 billion increase for programs focused on child care and early childhood learning.

This new funding includes an additional $275 million for the Head Start program and $725 million for the Child Care and Development Block Grant. That’s roughly a 30% increase in the funds, which states choose how to spend.

“One way that states might choose to use this increased funding is to increase subsidy eligibility thresholds,” said Susan Gale Perry, CEO of the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America. “Which means more families would have access to help paying for child care. It may also be used for things like improving the rates that states pay for child care providers so that they can, in turn, attract and retain qualified staff and increase the quality of their programs.”

Read the full article.

Getty Images

TIME

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 29, 2024 4:31 PM EST

The Biden Administration announced Thursday a new rule that would reduce childcare costs for more than 100,000 families.

The rule makes fixes to the Child Care and Development Fund, which serves an average of 1.3 million children every month, and will mainly help families that are already receiving childcare subsidies while also expanding access to aid for others.

Read Full Article.

Feminism NOW Podcast

Episode #14 – Affordable Childcare with Child Care Aware® of America

Our chief of Policy and Advocacy, Anne Hedgepeth, joined NOW National President Christian F. Nunes on a podcast to discuss the challenges of affordable childcare. They delve into why it's so tough to find reliable care, why it often consumes 2/3rds of your paycheck, and why this is a crucial feminist issue. Listen in to discover what policymakers and citizens can do to make a difference.

Listen to Full Podcast Series.

---Erin Williams, an Army officer serving at Fort Campbell, Ky., with her three children. Tamara Reynolds for NBC News

NBC NEWS

This was originally published on May 27, 2024

A shortage of child care providers has left around 9,000 children waiting months for spots at one of the military’s child care centers.

Erin Williams has jumped out of airplanes, led a platoon in Afghanistan and earned an Ivy League degree with three young children at home. But the hardest thing to navigate in her military career is finding child care.

“Child care is the only thing that has made me consider leaving military service,” said Williams, an Army officer who is currently serving at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. “I’ve worked for awesome leaders, and I think I’ve done a good job leading, but the logistics and constant stress that come from child care is truly the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with.”

Read the full article.