The First Five Things to Know: Appropriations FY27

Millions of hard-working American families struggle to find and afford the quality child care they need. Two thirds of all children ages five and younger need some form of child care because all of their available parents are working. For these families, child care is one of their largest household expenses –  the average annual cost of child care for one child exceeds $13,000 a year.

Federal funding provides the foundation for early learning and child care programs. These programs support families in all 50 states and every Congressional district. Annually, nearly $31.30 billion in federal mandatory and discretionary funds support early care and education for children birth to five, compared to $15.36 billion in from states. 

Funding for these programs has strong bipartisan support in Congress. Each year, Members of Congress submit “Dear Colleague” letters to leaders of the House Appropriations Committee expressing support for program funding. For FY27, nearly every letter saw record levels of backing from both Democrats and Republicans.

Funding for these programs has strong bipartisan support among voters. In a January 2026 poll, nearly three out of four voters (74%) say federal funding for child care and early learning is a good use of tax dollars, including 53% of Republicans, 77% of Independents, and 93% of Democrats.

Congress will be making funding decisions for FY27 over the next few months. The Spending bills for child care and early learning programs are overseen in the House and Senate by Appropriators on the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and Related Agencies subcommittees (or “Labor-H”). A coalition of 89 child care and early learning community has submitted a letter to these Appropriators calling for funding levels including:

• PDG B-5: At least $315 million
• CCDBG: $3.57 billion, for a total of at least $12.4 billion
• Early Head Start/Head Start: Increase of at least $1.91 billion for a total of at least $14.27 billion