Swinging for the fences: Women’s fight for child care policy

This week marks the end of Women’s History Month and today is opening day for Major League Baseball. While you wouldn’t typically link these two occasions, as a woman, a die-hard baseball fan, and in my role at Care, I think baseball is a pretty solid metaphor for how women – particularly moms – have managed the last several years. Hear me out (and I’ll try to keep the baseball lingo to a minimum).

Women have been clutch hitters time and time again. First at bat: the pandemic. Schools and daycares were closed and most other forms of child care were a challenge to find for most. Since moms still disproportionately shoulder the caregiving responsibilities in most families, this shortage of child care led to the Great Resignation, which saw nearly 3 million women leave the workforce. They did what they had to do to keep their families thriving, regardless of what it cost them professionally.

Second at bat: the post-pandemic recovery. No one saw this coming but as we collectively emerged from the pandemic, women returned to the workforce en masse; in fact, they have nearly returned at pre-pandemic levels! When you consider that the greatest driver of GDP growth in the last 50+ years has been female labor force participation, you understand why women leaving – and returning to – work is so critical to our economic growth…and in the case of the pandemic, our economic recovery.

Third at bat: the child care cliff. When pandemic-era child care funding expired at the end of September 2023, the nation went over what’s been called the child care cliff. Daycares started to close and waitlists grew longer (cue pandemic flashbacks). Six months later, families – and moms – are barely holding it together. According to our 2024 Cost of Care Report, families are spending 24% of their household income on child care; 35% are supplementing care costs by using their savings; 40% are already feeling the effects of the cliff; and 54% expect the cliff to cost them an additional $7,000 in 2024.

As costs rise and child care options shrink, will moms even get another at bat or will we face the Great Resignation Part 2? And how many times will we make it the responsibility of moms to keep us in the game? They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. We collectively keep talking about the child care crisis but meaningful change has yet to come. Unless it does, this vicious cycle will continue unabated and we all lose.

But don’t count a child care renaissance out just yet. This bi-partisan issue is gaining momentum and, not surprisingly, there are powerhouse women in Congress – on both sides of the aisle – who are leading the charge. In our final celebration of Women’s History Month, let’s meet them.

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington)

Senator Patty Murray is a staunch and vocal advocate for child care who has consistently emphasized the importance of care to our economy. Working alongside Representative Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), she has introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act on multiple occasions. This comprehensive legislation aims to ensure families can afford the child care they need, expand access to more high-quality care options, stabilize the child care sector, and help ensure child care workers entrusted with caring for our nation’s children are paid livable wages.

“Tackling the child care crisis isn’t just what families are counting on us to do—it’s a top economic imperative. I constantly hear from families making impossible tradeoffs to pay for child care, from parents—and too often, moms—forced to quit their jobs because they can’t find openings near them, and from child care workers struggling to just make ends meet,” said Senator Murray. “Families are counting on us to deliver on child care, and this is absolutely critical for our future and our economy—let’s pass the Child Care for Working Families Act.”

Further, following President Biden’s request for funding that would provide more resources to the child care industry in October 2023, Senator Murray spoke up about this proposal and urged her colleagues to pay attention to the worsening crisis impacting families and economies across the nation.

“We cannot pretend child care is any less urgent than the other challenges we face,” Senator Murray said on the Senate floor. “The writing is on the wall right now, in big, bold letters: the child care crisis is only going to get worse unless we take action—and soon!”

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois)

Senator Tammy Duckworth is no stranger to making history. After serving as an Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, she became the first Thai American woman elected to Congress. She also holds the distinction of being the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office.

After the birth of her second child, Senator Duckworth brought her 10-day old newborn along with her onto the Senate floor to ensure she didn’t miss a vote. While having family members present on the floor during votes was previously prohibited, her actions prompted change on April 18, 2018, with a unanimous vote to allow infants up to age one. This set an important example for the nation: working mothers are everywhere and employers should welcome them.

Senator Duckworth’s advocacy for working mothers does not end there. Last Mother’s Day, she joined CNN’s State of the Union, and shared her thoughts on what our nation should be doing in order to fully support working mom’s success.

“For most working parents, affordable child care isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity,” said Duckworth. “Capping the cost of child care would help families all across this country who now are spending as much as half of their income on these services that they need so they don’t have to drop out of the workforce. Other countries recognize how important it is to have subsidies that support child care for working families—we’re just one that doesn’t do it. We need to fix that and help these families.”

Senator Duckworth is also a cosponsor of the Child Care for Working Families Act, supporting its goal to “ensure that working parents have access to affordable child care, including pre-kindergarten programs, while caregivers are earning the wages they deserve”.

Representative Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa)

In a conversation with the First Five Years Fund, Representative Ashley Hinson said that child care and early learning policy is a priority for her in Congress, motivated by her own experience trying to find daycare for her two children amidst the availability crisis. She is a co-chair of the bi-partisan Child Care and Pre-K Caucus which is working to make a difference for American families. She also acknowledges the shortcomings of our current child care policy and has introduced the bipartisan, bicameral After Hours Child Care Act to expand the eligibility of the Child Care and Development Block Grant for after hours and nontraditional hours child care.

“So many working parents are struggling to find convenient child care options that make sense for their family,” said Representative Hinson. “This is even harder for parents who don’t work traditional 9-5 hours, like law enforcement officers, store clerks, emergency service operators, and nurses. Their jobs are critical to the health and safety of our communities – we have to make it easier for these hardworking Iowans to stay in the workforce while raising a family.”

Representative Hinson also worked alongside her counterpart in the upper chamber, Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), to introduce the ACCESS Act in 2021. This legislation aimed to allow communities and public-private partnerships to use Department of Commerce grants to increase access to child care.

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut)

Representative Rosa DeLauro has been a leader on child care policy for many years, but has most recently spoken out about the expanded Child Tax Credit that is currently waiting for deliberation in the Senate after a strong bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives. While this credit would help to mitigate the costs of raising children, it is a far cry from the expansion seen in the American Rescue Plan that lifted millions of children above the poverty line in 2021. This original expansion was co-authored by Representative DeLauro alongside Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-Washington) and Ritchie Torres (D-New York) to help families afford basic needs like purchasing food and covering housing expenses, including mortgage, rent, or utilities payments.

“We need to extend the expanded monthly child tax credit as we knew it, as it was in place, that succeeded,” said Representative DeLauro. “There’s no reason why we should be trying to compromise on it.”

She has also collaborated with her fellow Representative Patty Murray in support of the Child Care for Working Families Act and was one of the many legislators who cosponsored the legislation.

“Child care is essential for families,” said Representative DeLauro. “It helps parents get to work. It helps our children with social and emotional learning. And it helps families thrive. I am thrilled to join my colleagues in introducing legislation to expand access to child care and to ensure families across the U.S. can afford the high-quality child care they need.”

Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon)

No conversation about child care is complete without due consideration to the caregiving workforce. Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer has introduced the Early Childhood Workforce Advancement Act to expand career and technical education program investments to incentivize more students to enter the early childhood education workforce.

“Part of the problem is a shortage of providers, which also drives up costs,” Representative Chavez-DeRemer said. “By expanding access to early childhood education programs, this bipartisan legislation will help establish more child care services in our communities. I’ll continue working to ensure families can find high-quality, affordable care for their children.”

In addition, alongside Representative Salud Carbajal (D-California), Representative Chavez-DeRemer introduced the Child Care Investment Act to improve three existing child care tax incentives to meet the needs of today’s families. Within the bill are calls for increasing the rate and caps of the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit to open more employers up to a tax credit which would offset the high cost of child care for their employees. As it currently stands, the credit is restricted to businesses that create their own on-site daycare facility or contract with a narrowly defined existing provider.

“Skyrocketing costs have left affordable child care out of reach for too many families. Unfortunately, this problem often falls on women, who then must decide between staying at home and pursuing a career or education that they are passionate about,” said Representative Chavez-DeRemer. “It has a far-reaching effect on families, local businesses, and our economy, which is why investing in child care is also an investment in the future growth and success of our communities.”

Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina)

Last year, Representative Nancy Mace, alongside Representative Ro Khanna (D-California), launched the Congressional Bipartisan Affordable Childcare Caucus to address the high cost of child care in America. The caucus not only focuses on alleviating this expense for families, but also on empowering more people to pursue careers in the child care industry. In an interview with CBS News, Representative Mace shared her thoughts on how this can happen through flexible degree and training requirements.

“I approach it from a less-government-regulation standpoint,” she said. “We have some really crazy regulations in this country. Some places say you have to have a four-year college degree. Well, that certainly makes it harder to find child care workers, increases in cost because of it. Other places say well, if you’re certified in one state, it’s not reciprocal in another.”

In addition to her work with the caucus, Representative Mace also introduced the bipartisan Child Care Assistance for Maternal Health Act which would decrease the U.S. maternal mortality rate by increasing access to short-term child care for mothers and their families, specifically during the pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.

“Nurturing mothers and empowering families should be at the forefront of our society’s values. By supporting increased access to short-term child care during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, we are not only ensuring the well-being of mothers but also fostering a stronger foundation for our future generations. We are committed to providing the support and resources necessary for mothers to thrive as they embark on the incredible journey of motherhood,” said Representative Mace.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York)

A longtime advocate for child care policy, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was very vocal about preventing the expiration of the funding that led to the child care cliff. In collaboration with many other legislators including Senator Murray, she introduced The Child Care Stabilization Act last September with the goal of restoring the $16 billion in mandatory funding to child care providers each year for the next five years. Unfortunately, it has not made it further in the legislative process thus far.

“A shortage of child care providers in our state means that too many working parents have to make the impossible choice between going to work and taking care of their kids,” said Senator Gillibrand. “A sudden lapse in federal funding that forces even more providers to close would be catastrophic for New York families. Today, I’m announcing legislation to continue giving child care providers the support they desperately need, and I’m determined to get it passed.”

Following the introduction of this legislation, Senator Gillibrand also introduced the bipartisan Head Start for Our Future Act, alongside Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to alleviate staffing shortages in the early childhood education sector by offering college students paid work-study opportunities through Head Start, Early Head Start, or other early childhood education programs.

Representative Claudia Tenney (R-New York)

A new bipartisan child care bill entered the legislative ring last month, led by Representative Claudia Tenney alongside Representative Brad Schneider (D-Illinois): The Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone (PACE) Act. The PACE Act would address the fact that child care policies have not kept pace with inflation for more than 20 years by modernizing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and enhancing Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts. The goal is to improve access to affordable and high-quality child care for American families.

“Families shouldn’t have to jeopardize their finances to enroll their children in quality childcare,” said Representative Tenney. “The current federal childcare incentives have not kept up with the rising costs plaguing hardworking families and sometimes rival college tuitions. This pro-family bill updates federal childcare incentives, expands accessibility, and ensures lower-income and working families can provide quality care for their children. On top of that, our legislation will enable parents to go back to work, helping to combat our nationwide worker shortage.”

Can we hit a home run?

These leaders are among the reasons we at Care remain optimistic and we are hopeful that this will be their year…that by the time we reach the fall classic (or this year, the Presidential Election), child care will no longer be a wild card. It is time. In fact, it is long past due. The History Channel recently spotlighted the work of Esther Peterson, who, while most known for her advocacy for equal pay, also fought for access to child care. In 1963 – more than 60 years ago – the Commission on the Status of Women, for which Peterson served as executive vice chairman, presented its report titled American Women to President Kennedy. As I read the report I was struck by the fact that it could have been describing today’s families and their struggles.

“Child care services are needed in all communities, for children of all kinds of families who may require day care, after-school care, or intermittent care. In putting major emphasis on this need, the Commission affirms that child care facilities are essential for women in many different circumstances, whether they work outside the home or not. It is regrettable when women with children are forced by economic necessity or by the regulations of welfare agencies to seek employment while their children are young. On the other hand, those who decide to work should have child care services available.”

This is the year. Like all championship teams, let’s set our sights on taking home the trophy. Batter up!