Child Care: Supporting Moms on Mother’s Day and All Year Round

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

I'm looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day by getting together with my mom and dad and my sister and brother and their families and trying to get my mom to do as little as possible other than enjoying spending time with the family. But I'd like to think that Mother's Day isn't just about taking one day of the year to show appreciation for all our moms do. It should also be a day to think about ways to make it a little easier for our moms, as they try to juggle their uncountable responsibilities, all of the other days of the year.

There’s nothing we can do to make being a mom completely carefree. There are just too many things for them to worry about as they try to make sure their children are safe and happy and support their families in multiple ways, including financially—a particularly challenging task in today’s economy. Yet we can try to lend moms a hand in managing everything. One way to do this is by giving working moms the tools they need to find and afford reliable child care and early education for their children. Dependable child care is essential for enabling a mom to get and keep a job—and, once she's gotten a job, for enabling her to concentrate on her work secure in the knowledge that her children are in good hands.

During the week leading up to Mother’s Day, early childhood advocates from across the country are making sure that Congress gets the message about the importance of investments in child care and early education programs, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Early Head Start and Head Start, and child nutrition programs such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant, which funds assistance to help low-income families pay for child care and efforts to improve the quality of care, gives more working mothers access to the child care they want for their children. Early Head Start and Head Start provide comprehensive early learning experiences for disadvantaged infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and support for their families. And the Child and Adult Care Food Program funds nutritious meals in child care and early education settings. 

Investments in these critical programs, which offer support to moms as they work to ensure the best for their children, would be a Mother's Day gift that would help moms throughout the rest of the year.