While other industries have received large bailouts to ensure they survive the pandemic, child care has yet to see the major investments needed to stabilize the industry during this crisis and faces a potentially permanent loss of nearly half of its pre-COVID-19 capacity. Families and child care providers cannot continue to pay the price for congressional inaction. It is time for Congress to pass COVID-19 relief legislation that includes at least $50 billion to save child care.
N’Namdi Washington is a video contractor at the Center for American Progress. Darya Nicol is the advocacy associate for Early Childhood Policy at the Center.