HEARING: House Education and Workforce Subcommittee Hearing Highlights Importance of Child Care for Employers, Families, and Our Economy

The House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing on January 13, 2026 to highlight the role employers can play in supporting access to child care for working families.

The hearing, titled, “Who’s Watching the Kids? How Employers, Innovators, and Parents Are Solving America’s Child Care Crunch,” featured business owners, child care leaders, and child care policy experts who discussed the need for employer-led solutions to address our nation’s child care challenges, in conjunction with federal programs like the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) highlighted that, “Child care policy is also workforce policy… when you have accessible, affordable child care, it allows for parents to join the workforce. It’s a central aspect of the affordability, or cost of living, challenges that so many families are facing across the country.” Chair Kiley framed this hearing as the follow-up to a subcommittee hearing held in June of 2025, which focused on bipartisan support for maintaining and strengthening CCDBG and other federal child care investments. 

Key topics highlighted by Members on both sides of the aisle:

• Reliable and accessible quality child care is essential for working parents and employers. 
• Employer-led child care initiatives can work together with federal investments, like the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), to increase families’ access to care.
• Federal tax credits, particularly the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit (45F), support employers who want to help provide care options for their employees.
• Families need a supply of quality care options, and programs like CCDBG help enable this by supporting the early childhood education workforce. 
• There is no one-size-fits-all solution for child care. Business leaders and families need flexible and diverse options for care so they can choose what works best for them.

Witnesses included: 

• Mr. Haden Polseno-Hensley, President and Co-Founder, Red Rooster Coffee Company, LLC
• Ms. Alex Grover, CEO, i2M 
• Ms. Amy K. Matsui, Vice President for Child Care & Income Security, National Women’s Law Center 
• Ms. Mary Lou Burke Afonso, COO, Bright Horizons 

Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) underscored the importance of child care and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) for families, children, and the economy.

Chairman Kiley emphasized that access to quality child care strengthens the economy, and supports families and our workforce. He also highlighted the importance of CCDBG: “The child care block grant and private sector innovation should be partners in meeting the child care needs of America’s workforce. The block grant helps ensure a supply of high quality, licensed providers that families can access. Employer investment can strengthen the stability of those providers and ease child care pressures across communities.” 

Ranking Member Bonamici also stressed that child care is essential for families and a cornerstone of the economy. She noted that high costs force some parents out of the workforce: “Access to affordable, high quality child care is an essential part of a functioning economy. Yet in many communities, child care simply does not exist in sufficient supply, and as a direct result of that scarcity and unaffordability, our economy loses an estimated $122 billion in earnings, productivity, and revenue every year.” 

During the Q&A portion of the hearing, Members of Congress continued to highlight that child care is essential infrastructure for our economy and that employers are engaged in supporting their employees’ child care needs. Members agreed that Congress can continue to be a strong partner by investing in federal child care programs, better supporting children and families, and bolstering tax credits and other benefits that create incentives for business owners to support child care access. 

During their discussions with the hearing witnesses, many Members of Congress expressed support for enacting additional incentives for employers to provide child care for their employees. Many Members discussed the value of federal child care tax credits, particularly the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit (45F), in making it less expensive for employers to offer child care for their employees.

Congressman Michael Rulli (R-OH) discussed what more Congress can do to support businesses in their efforts to expand child care access for their employees. In response, witness Alex Grover recommended that Congress “preserve and strengthen employer focused tax credits,” and she especially highlighted the recent expansion of the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit (45F) as essential to creating an incentive for employers to provide child care for employees. Delegate Jim Moylan (R-Guam) also stated his support for the recent expansion of the 45F tax credit. He emphasized that, “addressing child care affordability requires an all-of-the-above approach,” and noted he supports CCDBG and other initiatives that will increase the supply of child care.

There was agreement among Members that it is important for small and mid-sized businesses to take advantage of the 45F tax credit. Congressman Mark Messmer (R-IN) noted that it can help a business’s bottom line to provide child care to employees. Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) also discussed the positive connection between employees’ reliable access to child care and the success of their employer’s business. There was also consensus among many of the hearing witnesses and Members that employee retention is significantly higher at businesses that provide child care benefits to their employees. 

Furthermore, during their conversations with the hearing witnesses, many Members emphasized their support for the child care workforce and the need to both increase the wages of child care workers and decrease families’ child care costs. 

Congressman John Mannion (D-NY) characterized the high cost of child care and its limited supply as a challenge that reaches all families across our nation. Congressman Mannion explained, “This problem is not limited to low-income households or specific areas. Middle class and even higher income families feel this as well, and it’s an issue regardless of where you live… We need to strengthen our federal commitment to child care, investing in provider sites, improving wages for the workers and also helping families afford it.” On a similar note, Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) stated that, “not only is access a challenge, but also affordability is maybe one of the biggest prohibiting factors for families from getting their child into a child care setting and then allowing them to stay in the workforce.”

In light of these affordability challenges, Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee Bobby Scott (D-VA) highlighted his support for strong federal investment into the child care system to expand access to care. Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC) agreed, saying, “there is a child care crisis in this country. Child care costs far too much for working class families and early educators barely make enough money to keep a roof over their heads.” Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-PA) raised similar concerns about the high cost of child care and the low average wages paid to child care workers.  

In addition, many Members highlighted that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for our nation’s child care challenges. Business leaders, employers, families, and communities need flexibility and a variety of choices so they can choose the care option that best meets their needs. 

Delegate Jim Moylan (R-Guam) and Congressman Mark Harris (R-NC) both discussed ways to best support child care programs in rural areas, and noted that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing child care needs. Congressman Burgess Owens (R-UT) further agreed about the importance of child care programs in rural areas, where options for child care may be more limited, and noted that employers can act as strong partners in providing child care. Chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee Tim Walberg (R-MI) noted that child care needs can vary “across industries and company sizes” and it is important for there to be flexibility and options available in child care programs. Witness Burke Afonso agreed, and added that high-quality child care programs are also beneficial for children. She said, “Zero to five is the most critical time for brain development for children, and so I see [child care] as a means, not only to help parents get back to the workforce… but also for the children of those families to get the best start they can.” 

Additionally, several Members and witnesses expressed support for Head Start programs. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (D-CT) noted that Head Start programs include, “comprehensive early childhood education that provides health, nutrition, parent involvement programs and all of these needs to low-income families,” and is a particularly important provider of care for children with disabilities. Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) also expressed support for Head Start and the essential services the program provides for children and families.

In light of recent events, many Members also expressed concerns about reports of possible fraud in some child care programs, and about the Trump administration’s recent freeze of federal child care funding to some states. Chair Kiley, Ranking Member Bonamici, Congressman Rulli, Congressman Harris, Chairman Walberg, and Congresswoman Grijalva all expressed concerns about recent reports of potential fraud and frustration that potential fraud could prevent child care funding from reaching eligible families. In addition, many Members stated their opposition to the Trump administration’s recent actions to freeze child care funding to several states. 

In their closing statements at the hearing, Chair Kiley and Ranking Member Bonamici both expressed support for additional Congressional action on child care to address the needs of our economy, businesses, the workforce, families, and children. 

Full testimony and video of the hearing can be found here.