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
Economic Data Underscores the Need for Significant, Sustained Investment in Child Care and Early Learning
As Congress moves closer to consideration of the child care and early learning proposals in President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, it is important to understand the economic impacts of …
The Build Back Better Act Would Reach 16X More Children with Child Care Assistance
A new analysis from the Center for American Progress shows that the Build Back Better Act will ensure child care assistance for 16 times as many young children as under …
New Data Reveals America’s Child Care Crisis is Only Getting Worse for Families, Providers, and the Economy
After decades of underinvestment and neglect, compelling new data reveals that America’s child care crisis is only getting worse: 4 out of 10 parents now say they have gone into debt to …
POTUS, VP, and FLOTUS Hit the Road for Child Care and Preschool in the Build Back Better Act
Congress is currently considering the Build Back Better Act, which includes a sweeping reform proposal to significantly and sustainably expand access to quality child care and preschool in America. The …
Families in Rural Communities Face Acute Child Care Challenges
Access to high-quality child care is a challenge for many Americans. In fact, 31.7% of children below the age of six with all parents in the workforce come from families …
Treasury Dept. Report Highlights Market Failures in America’s Child Care System and How Build Back Better Can Help
The Department of Treasury released the Economics of Child Care Supply, a report analyzing America’s existing child care system that demonstrates how the private, market-based system fails to meet the …
New State Data: How Families Use Child Tax Credit Payments
With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in March, Congress strengthened and expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC), making the credit fully refundable and increasing the amount for …
Moody’s Report: “Especially Strong Employment Effects” from Federal Support for Child Care
A new report from Moody’s Analytics — the renowned global financial firm, which provides economic research regarding risk, performance and financial modeling — examined the elements of President Biden’s Build …
With Release of Budget Resolution, Child Care and Preschool Should Remain a Top Priority in Reconciliation Package
UPDATE: On Wednesday, August 11th, the Senate voted to approve the budget resolution, setting the stage for Congressional Democrats to craft a sweeping economic package with significant investments in child …
2021 State Fact Sheets: Examining the Impact and Unmet Need of Federal & State ECE Funding
FFYF has released the latest iteration of its annual state fact sheets, which draw on numerous data sources to offer details about the early childhood opportunities in each state made …
The Expanded CDCTC Would Help More Families Afford Child Care
On Wednesday, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a tool designed to help families understand the expanded CDCTC limits that were temporarily expanded for 2021 under the American Rescue Plan …
