Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst

Child care assistance helps low-income families afford the reliable, good-quality child care that enables parents to work, gives children the good start they need to succeed, and, as a result, supports a strong workforce necessary for the nation’s current and future prosperity. Yet, families in many states are growing less likely to receive the child care assistance they need, according to a report released today by the National Women’s Law Center.

Families in thirty-seven states are worse off under one or more key child care assistance policies in February 2011 than they were in February 2010, and better off in only eleven states, according to the report, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2011: Reduced Support for Families in Challenging Times. The policies covered are critical ones in determining whether families receive assistance and the extent of help they receive — income eligibility limits to qualify for child care assistance, waiting lists for child care assistance, copayments required of parents receiving child care assistance, reimbursement rates for child care providers serving families receiving child care assistance, and eligibility for child care assistance for parents searching for a job.