Working Families
Access to affordable, reliable, and high-quality early learning and child care opportunities provides working families with better job stability and overall economic security.
Here are five things to know about child care and working families.
- According to population data, between 1.2 and 1.5 million workers are affected by inadequate child care options each month. This results in anywhere from 9 to 26 million hours of potential work lost due to child care challenges in any given week (or 468 million to 1.4 billion hours a year.) [KPMB study 2024]
- According to polls, 59% of part-time or non-working parents say they would go back to work full-time if their child had access to quality child care at a reasonable cost.
- In 2024, the average annual cost of child care was $13,128, a 29% increase since 2020. [Child Care Aware of America, reported in the 19th]
- Child care helps parents return to or stay at work, which can generate an additional $94,000 in lifetime earnings for mothers.
- Data from the Small Business Majority indicates that child care related challenges impact career trajectories with 30% of employees quitting a job or turning down an offer and 27% of employees turning down promotions.
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Posts
Our Child Care System Is Not Meeting The Needs Of Families, Providers, or The Economy
Now is the time to build a system of early care and education that works. Finding and affording quality child care and early learning options shouldn’t be the reason parents …
On Capitol Hill, Secretaries Cardona & Becerra Emphasize the Long-Term Value of Early Learning Investments
This week, members of Congress on capitol hill elevated the importance of investments in high-quality early learning and care in two hearings featuring Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Health and …
As America Recovers from the Pandemic, Data Shows Child Care Remains a Major Challenge for Working Parents
The results of a new Care.com survey reveal that finding and affording quality child care remains a major hurdle for working parents, and the pandemic only made things worse. Key …
New Guidance Released for Use of ARP Act Supplemental CCDBG Funding
On Friday, the Office of Child Care (OCC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released guidance on the use of $14.99 billion in supplemental Child Care and …
FFYF’S Sarah Rittling Joins ‘Engage for Women’ Co-Founder to Discuss Opportunities for Progress on Child Care & Early Learning
This week, FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling joined Engage for Women, a bipartisan organization that seeks to promote women’s economic security, to discuss the opportunity to build a child care …
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Calls for Greater Support and Investments for Child Care to Spur Economic Recovery
America’s economic success will depend on a high-quality, affordable child care system that allows parents to enter, re-enter, and stay in the workforce. Underscoring just how important child care is to …
States Lose Billions in Economic Activity from Child Care Breakdowns
The past year has brought on an increased awareness of the importance of child care to the economy. But even before the pandemic, families struggled to find and afford high-quality …
Child Care for Working Families Act Re-Introduced in Congress
WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) re-introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA), comprehensive legislation that would address access, affordability, and quality …
Report Details Long-Term Impact of Child Care Shortages on Parental Workforce Participation
A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that the profound lack of child care support and flexibility may have long-lasting effects on the decisions of …
Mothers of Young Children Have Been Pushed Out of the Workforce During Pandemic
A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that the lives of working moms in particular have been disrupted, as many left the workforce entirely due to, …
Letter Urges Congress to Strengthen Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit
Last week, a group of the nation’s leading child care and child advocacy organizations, including the First Five Years Fund, penned a letter to Congressional leaders urging support for the …
New Pew Study Highlights Child Care Struggles for Working Parents
Working parents have faced a year like no other. The Pew Research Center recently released new data from a survey of working parents that reflects that many working parents have …
