Working Families
Access to affordable, reliable, and high-quality early learning and child care opportunities provides working families with better job stability and overall economic security.
Here are five things to know about child care and working families.
- Child care prices are untenable across all program types, age groups, and geographic locations. In 2021, the cost of infant care ranged from 24.6% to 75.1% of income for single-parent households.
- Child care helps parents return to or stay at work, which can generate an additional $94,000 in lifetime earnings for mothers.
- Almost half of parents are absent from work at least once every six months due to child care issues.
- 74% of mothers and 66% of fathers have left work early, arrived late, or been absent because child care fell through at the last minute.
- In a recent poll, 59% of part-time or non-working parents say they would go back to work full-time if their child had access to quality child care at a reasonable cost.
Learn more:
Posts
IN CONTEXT: Child Care Costs Surpass Other Major Family Expenses
We’ve all heard that families with young children in the United States today are struggling to afford child care. Now we know just how tough it really is. According to …
Bipartisan Child Care Town Hall with Representatives Bonamici and Hinson
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The First Five Years Fund (FFYF) hosted Congresswomen Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA) for a town hall to discuss the importance of child care in their …
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: A Deep Dive Into Dual Language Learners
As FFYF commemorates Hispanic Heritage Month, we take a moment to reflect on the remarkable contributions of Latinx communities across the United States. In recognizing and celebrating our nation’s Latinx …
New Report Highlights Barriers to Child Care Assistance for Latinx Families
Brief highlights child care subsidy staff perspectives on policy implementation practices and effective outreach with latinx families in California. Latinx* children make up approximately 35% of those eligible for subsidized …
ZERO TO THREE Releases State of Babies 2023 Yearbook
ZERO TO THREE recently released the State of Babies Yearbook: 2023, an in-depth report on how state and federal policies have impacted the lives of families and their young babies. …
Learning from Experts: How EHS-CCPs Are Benefitting Children and Families in Grantee States
Last week, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), in partnership with the Children’s Equity Project and Start Early, wrapped up their 3 part webinar series on Early Head Start- Child Care …
What Can Advocates Learn From How New Mexico and Alabama Are Transforming Their Child Care Systems?
What states have been successful in transforming their early care and education (ECE) landscape and expanding high-quality child care options for young children? How are they doing it? And how …
GAO Report: Family Child Care Networks
Over 7 million children from birth through age 5 are cared for in a family child care (FCC) or home-based setting. Families may choose FCC for a number of reasons: …
Department of Education Calls for Applications for FY2023 CCAMPIS Awards
Last week, the Department of Education (ED) released a Federal Register Notice inviting applications for new awards for FY2023 for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. …
Report Highlights Precarious State Progress on Child Care Assistance Policies
Last week, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) released a report, “Precarious Progress: State Child Care Assistance Policies”, which examines the gaps and progress within state child care assistance policies …
Understanding Parents’ Complex Child Care Choices — or Lack Thereof
Parental choice is a fundamental value of our child care system. While all parents want their young children cared for in a safe and warm environment, they have varied needs …
New 50 State Analysis Shows Impact of Federal Child Care Program
New analysis of all 50 states and the District of Columbia from First Five Years Fund (FFYF) shows that while the nation’s main federal child care program – the Child …
