Child Care Means Business: Leaders and Employers Highlight Urgent Need for Solutions

This week, the First Five Years Fund (FFYF) and the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute (WCPI) co-hosted a bipartisan briefing on Capitol Hill to spotlight that Child Care Means Business. 

The briefing brought together a packed room of congressional staffers eager to learn about the importance of federal child care programs like Head Start, the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), and Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) at a crucial moment when members are making decisions on FY2026 funding that will affect families, providers, and communities nationwide. The discussion underscored how access to affordable, reliable child care is essential not just for families, but for the workforce, businesses, and the economy as a whole.

The event was hosted in coordination with the Bipartisan Congressional Women’s Caucus and the Bipartisan Congressional Pre-K and Child Care Caucus. 

Vice-Chair of the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (D-OR) stopped by to talk about the personal and professional challenges families face when affordable child care is out of reach. She shared, “When we force people to choose between a career and a family — when the cost of child care prices them out of their chance to follow their dreams — I believe we have a real problem. I went to engineering school, and I remember vividly that my mom was in graduate school for most of my childhood. I told myself I didn’t want to repeat that experience; I wanted to go straight into graduate school right after finishing my undergraduate degree. And I did. But in many ways, I ended up repeating the same cycle — balancing career, school, and family — and that created a great need for child care in my own life.”

Following opening remarks from FFYF Managing Director of Government Affairs Sarah Rubinfield and WCPI President & CEO Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, attendees heard from a dynamic panel of leaders representing very different sectors. The speakers all spoke about the importance of child care to their work and communities. 

• Dr. Betsy Tonniges, who founded and runs the Primrose School of Lincoln in Nebraska
• Angie Clifford, CEO of the Northmont Area Chamber of Commerce in Ohio
• Elaine Bennett, CEO of Guadalupe Regional Medical Center Foundation in Texas

Learn more:

• ABCs of Federal Early Learning and Child Care Funding Streams
• How a Lack of Affordable Child Care Impacts the Economy
• Contact your Member of Congress