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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.”

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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. 

Child Care Aware of America applauds ACF efforts to lower costs and improve provider payment practices. 

Staffing shortages and a lack of facilities have contributed to the long waits for childcare, though the situation has improved somewhat since the pandemic. 

Experts say the supply-and-demand mismatch limits opportunities for families and communities alike: Without reliable and affordable child care, parents can’t join the workforce, stunting household financial stability and regional economies. 

The cost of child care is on the rise in the U.S., up more than 14% over the last five years with the average cost per child at almost $11,000 per year.

CCAoA's CEO Susan Gale Perry shares how critical high quality child care is for families in the U.S.