Discover the cost posed by federal inaction for child care and the importance of advocacy in securing a brighter future for children.
At the close of October 2023, the White House proposed a crucial $16 billion funding initiative to sustain the child care sector, aiming to mitigate the effects of the loss of pandemic-era funding one month earlier, commonly known as the child care cliff. However, despite urgent pleas from families and caregivers, more than six months have now passed and the proposal sits untouched by both chambers of Congress.
The effects of inaction have been felt by many. Take, for example, what has happened in the state of Wisconsin, as highlighted by The Washington Post. In November, mere months after the funding expired, 168 child care businesses serving nearly 5,000 kids had already been forced to shutter their doors. Spotlighting the closure of one local business, this article struck me as a powerful example of the devastating consequences that this funding lapse could cause in communities – and households – across the nation.
When a neighborhood child care center shuts its doors, it is not just the loss of a small business. There is a profound ripple effect that washes over the community and into the economy:
- Caregivers who already receive notoriously low wages are pushed into financially precarious positions or unemployment.
- Parents are thrust into a desperate scramble to find a new care solution in an already tight market where child care deserts are all too common and available slots are all too scarce.
- Viable options that may be found frequently come with a hefty price tag, placing an additional burden on already stretched family budgets.
- The exorbitant cost of child care forces working parents, often mothers, to either leave the workforce entirely or cut back on their hours.
Faced with these very real potential consequences, we must ask ourselves how different things would look if we had only acted six months ago? How many jobs and businesses could have been preserved? How many families could have been spared from the agonizing cost and stress? What would our present and our future be if we had made different choices in the past?
What would our present and our future be if we had made different choices in the past?
Brad Wilson, CEO, Care.com
The cost of inaction
When the Biden administration unveiled its funding proposal, they included a comprehensive state by state breakdown detailing the potential assistance for child care providers and the children they serve. This analysis revealed that, nationwide, the proposed funding could positively impact more than 220,000 child care providers serving more than 10 million children. From the vantage point of the hypothetical “what if?”, these numbers are inspiring. But from the vantage point of the actual where nothing was done, these numbers are heartbreaking.
States are providing access to care
While Congressional action remains elusive, there is a glimmer of hope for some. Governments in 11 states and Washington, D.C. have stepped up to provide their own funding support to the child care sector in their communities. Thanks to recently released data from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), we now know there is a tangible impact of these localized efforts.
For example, the NWLC’s analysis of Census data found that in states without additional funding, the number of children unable to attend child care due to closures, lack of availability or cost increased from 18% to 23%. In contrast, states that have additional funding saw only a 2% increase.
The affordability of care
Access to child care also directly correlates to the cost. When supply is low, enrollment rates are driven up. Additionally, while parents sit on daycare waitlists, they incur costs for the gap child care they have to put in place. According to Care.com’s 2024 Cost of Care Report, of the parents bracing to be impacted by the childcare cliff (79%), a majority (59%) are expecting to spend more than $7,000 in additional care costs for 2024.
To add fuel to the fire, another initiative essential to helping families with the cost of raising children languishes awaiting a vote in the Senate: an expansion to the Child Tax Credit. Similar initiatives have historically accomplished amazing feats for American families, including raising millions of children above the poverty line during the pandemic. While the current proposed Tax Credit expansion does not rise to the level we saw during the pandemic, it would still provide help to families who desperately need some relief. There are promises that, if passed, this credit will be retroactive to 2023, but that seems less and less likely as time marches on.
Women’s workforce participation
Furthermore, child care funding is a proven economic driver as it facilitates female workforce participation. In states where additional child care funding has been allocated, the percentage of women citing child care as a barrier to work decreased by 13%. Conversely, in states without local funding, the decrease was minimal, at just 3%.
On a national scale, the impact is significant. The National Bureau of Economic Research finds that a major expansion of child care similar to the Biden Administration’s proposal would enable roughly 1.2 million more mothers to work full time.
The past should not dictate the future
It would be naive to think that one or two programs could yield the major overhaul of our nation’s child care system we so desperately need. But not taking advantage of them while we work towards a sweeping rebuild causes real and measurable harm. If that had ever been questioned, one need only look at the last six months for the answer.
We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. Over the course of the next six months, there will be debates and campaigning ahead of the Presidential election. Let’s use that time to take actions of our own. Let’s make investing in child care a topic that simply cannot be avoided. Let’s demand concrete plans and concrete timing to see those plans funded and enacted. Let’s do all we can to make certain that, six months from now, we don’t look back and once again wonder “what if?”
