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The Problem: Child care, from birth to kindergarten, costs (far) more than most families can afford. And that keeps many parents, especially single parents, from being able to get a job, make a living and get ahead. Fact #1: Child care providers are in crisis because they can’t charge parents the true cost of high-quality care. And the result is that they are understaffed, or worse, can’t even operate. Child care workers are the worst-paid workers in America. And the problem is getting worse. Learn more here: The Atlantic (July 23, 2022) Fact #2: Rural child care is in an even deeper crisis than urban child care, because many rural families can afford to pay even less or have transportation challenges. Learn more here: Cardinal News (August 25, 2022) Fact #3: Other countries have figured out how to provide affordable, high-quality child care and pre-K. Sadly, America spends less (by far) on child care and pre-K than any other developed country. Less than one half of one percent of our GDP. Learn more here: Center for American Progress. (December 2, 2021) Why can’t we fix this? We can. In fact, the Democrats in Congress tried to do so this year. Their bill offered substantial new funding to allow each state to provide every family with child care support and pre-K schooling. But… the Republicans refused to go along. A few Republicans proposed an alternative child care tax credit – but that only helps those who pay enough taxes to benefit. And even that didn’t have the support of the majority of Republicans, who simply are satisfied with the way things are now. Disinformation alert: Republican politicians are saying that the Democrats’ proposal would be a Washington “takeover” of child care. As the non-partisan Politifact reports, however, the Democratic bill would have provided the funding, but implementation would have been determined by each state, based on its own unique circumstances. Learn more here: Politifact (December 3, 2021) The Bottom Line: It is true that a national child care/pre K program will cost money. But so do Social Security and Medicare. Those programs have been essential lifesavers for our elderly population. Most parents simply cannot afford to pay for child care. Nor can each state afford to do it on its own. What this means for your vote: If the Republicans win control of either the House or the Senate, the chance of real child care reform drops to near zero. It is not on their priority list. If the Democrats win, they will try to pass it again. Either way, your vote will send a signal.
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