Joint Statement: In Support of Tax Relief for Child Care

By enhancing the Child Tax Credit, the bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 would help more families afford the everyday expenses of raising children. The following 21 national organizations issued a joint statement in support of this bipartisan progress and urging Congressional Leaders to continue to work together in the coming months to modernize existing child care credits – Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, the Dependent Care Assistance Program, and the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit – to help ease the tremendous burden of finding and affording child care for working families while supporting economic stability around the country. 

“The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act is a bipartisan effort to update tax provisions, including the Child Tax Credit, to help further ease the financial burden for families nationwide. This is an important step forward and research shows this will help millions of families with children across the United States. We applaud this bipartisan effort.

“As we look to the future, we also urge lawmakers to build on this bipartisan momentum and work together to help ease the burden of child care by enhancing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, the Dependent Care Assistance Program, and the Employer Provided Child Care Tax Credit. Child care is one of the largest expenses faced by most families with small children and too often families can’t find the care they need, impacting their ability to go to work. Continuing to modernize the tax code to update additional tax provisions specifically designed to help families find and afford child care would have a powerful impact on families’ expenses while also supporting the economy. 

“The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, the Dependent Care Assistance Program, and the Employer Provided Child Care Tax Credit help families afford child care but, as they are currently written, these tax credits are limited in reach. Modernizing them will help parents afford child care while supporting employer efforts to connect employees to child care options. And, together with strong funding for programs, this would have a powerful impact on families and the economy. 

“We thank lawmakers for coming together in a bipartisan way to support families and children and encourage them to continue to leverage the tax code by updating child care provisions to benefit families, their young children, and our economy.”

Organizations Include:

• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
• Bipartisan Policy Center
• Cadillac Area Chamber of Commerce
• Care.com
• The Chamber, Leading Business in Cabarrus
• Child Care Aware of America
• Council for Professional Recognition
• Council for a Strong America
• DAY ONE Early Learning Community
• Early Care & Education Consortium
• The Educare Learning Network 
• First Five Years Fund
• Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices
• Help Me Grow National Center
• Independent Restaurant Coalition
• Indiana Chamber of Commerce
• KinderCare Learning Companies
• Ohio Association of Child Care Providers
• Raising Illinois Prenatal-to-Three Coalition
• Save the Children
• Start Early

Additional Letters in Support of Enhancing The Tax Code

— In January 2024, leaders of the Bipartisan Pre-K and Child Care Caucus — Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR),  Joaquin Castro (D-TX), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA) — sent a letter to the Ways and Means Committee urging them to modernize four existing child care credits – the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Dependent Care Assistance Program, and Employer Provided Child Care Tax Credit – to “provide immediate relief for working families and small businesses nationally.”

— In September 2023, a group of organizations, Chambers of Commerce and businesses also sent a letter calling on members of Congress to make child care more affordable by updating the U.S. tax code.