Downtown Children’s Center in St. Louis. (Photo: Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent.)
WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Education and Workforce Subcommittee heard on Tuesday that affordability in child care was a problem but proposed a different solution.
Republicans promoted the long-standing block grants and called for choice and flexibility in childcare systems, while Democrats called for more federal investment, including legislative efforts to reduce childcare costs.
For only one child, between 8.9% and 16% of the median family income are spent on care all day. Ministry of Labor Data for 2022.
“Childcare is essential to helping working parents thrive and the local economy grow,” said Rep. Kevin Killy, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary School and Secondary Education, during the panel hearing.
“At the same time, parenting can be very expensive. The costs are just going to rise,” said the California Republican.
Kiley said the Childcare and Development Block grant “exist to enable working families to access affordable childcare, and gives them the freedom to maintain the workforce and increase economic opportunities, one of the solutions to the affordable and access problems of childcare.”
The grants are roughly funded $8.75 billion In 2024, we will go to states, tribes and territories to ensure low-income working families have access to childcare.
Kiley said that “choice” is a pillar of the program, “giving parents the freedom to give them both a lifestyle and economic decision that best meets the needs of their individual family.”
Every year, “The average cost of childcare costs exceed $10,000 per child, more than tuition fees at public universities and more than all 50 rents,” said Caitlin Codella Low, managing director of human capital at the Washington, DC think tank, Bipartisan Policy Center.
“Employers are paying the price. Childcare challenges lead to higher absenteeism, lower retention rates and difficult recruitment,” she added.
Local Programs
Todd Burton, mayor of Crawfordville, Indiana, highlighted his community’s efforts to address the lack of affordable, high-quality childcare.
Burton said the shortage “had a profound impact” on the community’s workforce and economic potential.
These efforts include the formation of a Child Care Task Force that has evolved into an early childhood coalition, an all-day summer program for school-age children, and an early learning center that Burton said is already increasing the community’s parenting capacity by more than 30%.
“We need strong federal support to maintain work on this scale,” Burton said, adding that “programs like childcare (and development block grants and employer-provided childcare credits are essential tools we freely need.”
Dems Blast Cuts
“Without bold and sustained federal investment, childcare costs will continue to rise and the care workforce will continue to fight,” said Sen. Suzanne Bonamichi, a ranking member of the subcommittee.
Oregon Democrats have denounced the proposed Medicaid and Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as part of the Congressional Republican settlement package.
Bonamici described Medicaid and SNAP as “programs that support children, families, childcare centers and childcare workforce.”
She also highlighted the Child Care Act for Families Working with Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, a member of the Full Committee and Washington Sen. Patty Murray. Reintroduced in each chamber During a session before the council.
Bonamici said the bill “that caps childcare costs at a 7% income, makes them affordable for all parents, and offers historical investments in the childcare workforce, including higher wages, better benefits and improved training opportunities.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is making drastic cuts within the Department of Health and Human Services. Management for children and families.
The administration reportedly closed at least five Head Start offices Regional Office Early this year.
“We’ve already seen a very bad impact from the closure,” said Ruth Friedman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation.
She added, “Local programs don’t get the support and the answers they need, grants come slowly to them. This is extremely problematic as we work monthly on the budget and lose the enormous amount of expertise in the local needs that those programs offer.”
Rep. Summer Lee called for more federal investment in child-rearing, saying, “The existing programs, frankly, don’t cut that.”
“We know that with every dollar we invest in early childhood education, we save a lot of money on services that we don’t need as our children grow up,” the Pennsylvania Democrats said.
She passed the Scott Murray bill and major It guarantees access to universal child care.
“This is why we need to pass Democratic laws like all community laws and childcare for working families. We look forward to introducing them to Ranking Member Scott in the near future.”
