We have a bipartisan solution to address America's child care crisis

American families have faced painful financial difficulties the last few years, and a continuous concern of many families is a struggle to access high-quality, affordable child care.

We represent Virginia and Alabama in the U.S. Senate, and parents across both our states have repeatedly expressed frustration with the impediments to finding the care they need for their kids. 

More than half of all American families live in child care deserts. Many parents are forced to place their names on long wait lists. If they are lucky enough to get off a list, they face the daunting challenge of figuring out how they’ll actually pay for care.

The national average price of child care was $11,582 in 2023. In Virginia, families pay some of the highest costs of child care in the country, with the average annual price of center-based infant care exceeding $15,000 in 2022. In both of our states – Virginia and Alabama – child care costs for two young children are more than what the average family spends on housing. This is, unfortunately, the norm across the country.

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Exacerbating accessibility and affordability hurdles for families is the fact that 100,000 child care workers left the profession during the pandemic, with the child care sector shrinking 9.7% between February 2020 and September 2022. Even with the high cost of child care, the median wage for a child care worker is just under $15 per hour.

In a hot job market, many child care staff understandably leave jobs they love for higher pay outside the child care sector because they cannot otherwise pay their bills. The struggle to maintain staff in the child care sector has led to fewer options for parents.

The impact of the child care crisis does not end with families. It affects our country’s economic growth. A 2023 report found that the U.S. child care crisis has an economic toll of $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue every year. Tens of thousands of people miss work every month due to child care issues. 

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A 2023 study estimated the annual economic impact of the infant-toddler child care crisis on Virginia was over $3.1 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue. A 2021 study found that 64% of Alabama parents with a young child worked fewer hours due to a lack of adequate child care, and approximately one in five parents missed work that year due to child care challenges – the highest rate in the nation.

While Congress has passed legislation to help alleviate the child care crisis coming out of the pandemic, we still have work to do in order to create a long-term solution to help American families. That’s why we are joining together to introduce a bold bipartisan proposal to help working families access and afford high-quality child care and boost supply.

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Our proposal is twofold. The Child Care Workforce Act works to build supply. Our bill incentivizes child care workers and providers to stay in the industry by creating a competitive grant program for states, localities and tribes interested in adopting or expanding pay programs for child care workers. This additional pay will provide a boost for workers who want to stay in the industry but are currently priced out. 

For parents and families, we are creating several pathways to reduce cost. Through the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act we are increasing the size of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, expanding access to more low- and middle-income families, allowing families to deduct 50% more in expenses via the Dependent Care Assistance Program, and increasing the maximum Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit to incentivize businesses to provide child care to employees – while retooling the credit to allow Main Street small businesses to participate. 

Together, these measures would lower the cost of child care for families, expand the choices parents have, encourage businesses to support child care supply, and get more resources to child care providers and to the child care workforce. 

While we continue to debate the future of federal child care policy, it is critical we find a path forward on actionable common ground solutions to make sure kids have safe, enriching places to learn and grow, child care workers are supported, and parents can participate in the workforce. 

Doing nothing is not an option. It’s time for bold, bipartisan action now.

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Republican Katie Britt represents Alabama in the U.S. Senate.