State Child Care Assistance Policies Report

The National Women's Law Center's 8th annual review of key child care subsidy policies in all fifty states and the District of Columbia reveals that families were worse off in 37 states than they were in 2010 under one or more child care assistance policies.  Families are not only worse off in 2011 than they were in 2010, but are also worse off than a decade ago.

A study by the National Women's Law Center of child care policies in 50 states and the District of Columbia reveals that between February of 2008 and February of 2009, more states made cuts than made improvements in desperately needed child care assistance, worsening an already bleak landscape for parents trying to afford reliable child care.

NWLC's annual nationwide report and analysis of state child care assistance policies reveals that low-income families continue to struggle to access high-quality child care, despite some modest improvements made by states.

Help paying child care is crucial for low-income families given the high cost of care. Yet little has been done to help these parents and providers. While there were positive developments in several states, a number of states put more restrictive policies in place.