A brief was released today by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and CLASP, "Child Care is Key to Our Economic Recovery," stating that 9.6 billion dollars was needed per month in order to sustain our child care infrastructure. This would stabilize the emergency child care being provided during the pandemic and ensure there is a child care infrastructure for families to return to when those other than essential personnel return to the workforce.
We know that even before the pandemic the child care system was on shaky ground with parents unable to afford the high costs, providers themselves living at poverty level and child care deserts all over the United States. If it wasn't obvious before, it is now, that child care is an essential service that keeps our economy viable and in this instance is helping keep us safe by supporting our essential personnel.
This is focused on several factors including but not limited to:
- private pay centers and family child care providers of which are no longer receiving their private pay tuition
- facilities that remain open must follow health and safety guidelines which limit the number of people allowed in a room at the same time to 10, including adults, which reduces income
- facilities that remain open have higher operating costs than normal which include increasing staff costs (hazard pay), higher costs of materials to maintain health and safety
- ensure the estimated 6 million children of essential personnel have a safe place to be at no cost to their parents
So, read the brief, understand more fully why policy makers need to fund the child care system with 9.6 billion dollars a month. Let's share this guidance to help policy makers understand why child care is at risk, as well as, CACFP and our necessary supports to the child care system.
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Source: Child Care is Key to Our Economic Recovery: What it will take to stabilize the system during the coronavirus crisis, National Women's Law Center, CLASP, April 2020. Accessed: https://nwlc.org/resources/child-care-is-key-to-our-economic-recovery-what-it-will-take-to-stabilize-the-system-during-this-crisis/
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