Columbus, Ohio — Today, the Center for American Progress released a new report detailing the findings of a public opinion survey on the state of child care in Ohio and voters’ priorities for improving the system. The poll was conducted by GBA Strategies and surveyed 620 registered Ohio voters. A few key findings include:
- 68 percent of Ohio parents with children under 18 say that lack of access to quality, affordable child care is a serious problem.
- 61 percent of Ohio parents with children under age 18 say that they or an immediate family member have had their career or career prospects negatively impacted due to child care considerations.
- 72 percent of Ohioans support efforts by state lawmakers to increase funding for quality, affordable child care or other early childhood education programs—with 62 percent of voters saying that they would be “more likely” to vote for a candidate who supports these efforts.
- Increasing funding for child care is not a partisan issue for Ohio voters. Sixty-two percent of Republicans, 69 percent of independents, and 85 percent of Democrats support additional funding.
- 44 percent of Ohio voters believe that the state’s governor and state legislature are best positioned to improve access to quality, affordable child care—outpacing their belief that this problem will be solved by the private sector, local government, Congress, or nonprofit organizations.
For a complete analysis of the poll results, please click here. The release of the findings comes on the one-year anniversary of the Child Care for Working Families Act, the leading piece of federal legislation to improve child care quality and affordability for working families. A new CAP analysis finds that, under the legislation, 1.44 million Ohio children would be income-eligible for child care assistance, and the median family’s weekly child care payment in Ohio would not exceed $31.
For more information on this topic or to connect with an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 214.223.2913.