Child care and early education are part of the country’s infrastructure and an economic investment. When Congress neglects to robustly fund child care and early education, it negatively affects parents’ workforce participation, families’ economic security, and U.S. economic prosperity. The Early Childhood Policy team believes in policymakers’ responsibility to establish comprehensive solutions that invest in all families.
This Father’s Day, federal and state governments must consider the history of child support and how it can better serve poor, Black families.
Congress must pass the Support Kids Not Red Tape Act to support continued access to school meals.
Congress must act now to resolve the nation’s infant and specialty formula crisis by addressing supplies, cost, and accessibility and then take steps to prevent future shortages.
Easing burdens on eligible people participating in government programs can reduce poverty and inequity.
By reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as a strong automatic stabilizer, policymakers can keep millions of Americans out of poverty and counteract recessionary pressures.
The Child Care for Working Families Act would invest in the United States’ care infrastructure, growing the economy while lowering child care costs for the middle class.
To prepare the child care sector for the future, America must invest significantly in the child care workforce and provide quality, accessible, affordable child care for all.
Without federal relief funds, many child care programs will close, disproportionately affecting women’s labor force participation.
Across the country, expensive and limited child care options are causing parents to interrupt their jobs and make other financial sacrifices.
Working mothers are important drivers of three essential industries—elementary and secondary education, hospitals, and food services—yet cannot afford child care for their own children.