BILL: Should We Invest in Child Care? - Child Care for Every Community Act - H.R.953

The Bill 

H.R.953 - Child Care for Every Community Act

Bill Details

• Sponsored by Rep. Mikie Sherill (D-N.J.) on Feb. 9, 2023
• Co-sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
• Committee: House - Education and the Workforce
• House: Not yet voted
• Senate: Not yet voted
• President: Not yet signed

Bill Overview 

• Provides funds to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an affordable childcare and early learning program.
• Children who are not yet required to attend school can participate in the program regardless of family income, disability status, citizenship status, or employment status of family members.
• Under the program, HHS will support sponsors like states, local governments, tribal organizations, and nonprofit community organizations that provide childcare and early learning services for families.
• Centers and Family Child Care Homes will meet high-quality standards based on current U.S. military childcare and the Head Start program standards.
• Requires that wages and benefits for childcare workers be comparable to those of similarly credentialed local public school teachers. 

What's in the Bill

Makes childcare affordable

• Half of families nationwide would pay less than $10 a day for high-quality childcare.
• 46% of Latino families have not received any childcare since their child's birth. Families that seek childcare have to spend around 15% of their monthly income.

Enhances workforce participation

• Lack of access to high-quality, affordable childcare prevents parents from fully participating in the workforce and holds them back from career opportunities.
• Families often face the choice between taking time off work to care for their child or paying for expensive and inaccessible childcare.

Families will pay a subsidized fee based on their income 

• The fees will be waived for children from families with incomes below 200% of the poverty line.
• The fees are capped at 7% of a family's income regardless of the family's income level.

What Supporters Are Saying

• Sen Warren said:

"A lack of child care is holding back our economy and keeping parents out of the workforce – it's giving lie to the notion that there's equal opportunity in our country. We can't build a future by shortchanging our babies and families. The more we invest in child care, the better for our families, our small businesses and our entire economy."

• Sen. Sanders said:

"In the richest country on earth, we must make sure that every family in America has access to high quality childcare and that childcare workers receive much higher wages and much better benefits, We can no longer tolerate a dysfunctional childcare system that costs, on average, $15,000 per child each year, where there are not enough childcare slots for our kids and where the average childcare worker makes less than a doggy day care worker."

• Rep. Sara Jacobs said:

"Our child care system is deeply broken, leaving millions of parents struggling to find and afford care and providers earning so little that they need help putting food on the table. Small or temporary fixes won't cut it; we need big, wholesale change to our care economy to support kids and families across the country."

What Opponents Are Saying

• While better childcare is mostly bipartisan, some conservatives have criticized Democratic bills that require increased funding for childcare programs. A fellow at the conservative think tank, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Patrick T. Brown, said:

"You can't just say 'We have to spend the money here.' Whatever fiscal policy we're advancing, that's foreclosing other doors."

• Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who recently dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, expressed in the September Republican primary debate that childcare legislation should not require fees or increased taxes, but instead should "give more Americans their money back."

Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill

-Emma Kansiz & Jamie Epstein

(Photo Credit: Canva)