Child Care: It’s Time to Talk About It

In the past two weeks, several Washington Post articles have raised an issue that has not been the focus of a national political campaign since 1988—child care. It should be a top topic of the campaign debate because it is a basic support for millions of American families and because it is closely connected to the most pressing issues on the agenda today—jobs, the economy, and our nation’s budget priorities.

All families, regardless of income, struggle to find safe and supportive child care. Because the United States is one of only six countries that does not offer paid parental leave (PDF), many parents must start their search for child care soon after their babies arrive—or even before. Ask any parent what that search is like, and they will typically talk about how long the waiting lists are for a slot in a child care program, especially for infants and toddlers, and what limited choices they have in their neighborhoods for high-quality child care. Their stories are frustratingly similar.

Parents shoulder most of the burden for their child care costs—about 60 percent of child care is covered by parent fees. The private sector barely kicks in with about one percent of the support.

We offer limited help to low-income families through the Child Care and Development Block Grant. However, only one in six children eligible for federal child care assistance receives it and this number is likely dropping. Twenty-two states have waiting lists for child care assistance, and a number of these lists have been growing. Maryland’s waiting list has increased consistently since it was started in February 2011, and now has almost 19,000 children on it. Middle-class families are left with little help as they struggle to afford the cost of child care, which can exceed the cost of public college tuition.

Yet, we cannot reduce child care costs for families by squeezing providers’ budgets. As it is, child care workers—most of whom are women—earn an average of just $10.25 an hour.

 More needs to be done not only to help families afford child care, but also to ensure that child care settings protect children’s basic well-being. States’ health and safety protections for children in child care are spotty, and many states do not even regularly monitor child care programs to check that they are meeting the protections that are in place.    

Addressing these gaps in the availability and quality of child care should be a higher priority for our country. Investing in high-quality, affordable child care would help parents work so that they can support their children. It would also help young children get the strong start that they need to succeed in school and contribute to our economy in the future.

It’s particularly important to place a greater focus on child care now because investments in this crucial area, along with other supports for women and their families, are in jeopardy under budget-cutting proposals currently being debated in Congress and state legislatures and on the campaign trail. We must make sure policy makers understand how essential child care is to children, their families, and our nation.