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.
- Child care prices are untenable across all program types, age groups, and geographic locations. In 2021, the cost of infant care ranged from 24.6% to 75.1% of income for single-parent households.
- Child care helps parents return to or stay at work, which can generate an additional $94,000 in lifetime earnings for mothers.
- Almost half of parents are absent from work at least once every six months due to child care issues.
- 74% of mothers and 66% of fathers have left work early, arrived late, or been absent because child care fell through at the last minute.
- In a recent poll, 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.
Learn more:
Posts
Growing Child Care Crisis Impacting Parents Returning to Work
Extended closures have forced nearly half of child care providers to close their doors and those still operating or reopening will have to operate on financial losses for months to …
National Poll Finds Essential Workers, Families Struggling with Child Care During Crisis
A new survey released by the Bipartisan Policy Center finds that the current health crisis in America is highlighting the challenges many families face with child care, both for remote …
FFYF Joins Advocates in Calling on Congress to Consider Child Care in COVID-19 Stimulus Package
FFYF has joined dozens of other child advocacy organizations in a letter to Congress requesting “significant attention to and investment in the child care and early learning sector” as part …
Report Highlights Barriers to Child Care for Families of Young Children with Disabilities
Last week, the Center for American Progress (CAP) released a new report that highlights the challenges faced by parents of young children with disabilities to access affordable, high-quality child care …
Lawmakers Convene Two Congressional Hearings on Child Care and Early Learning This Week
In case you missed it, there were two Congressional hearings in the House of Representatives yesterday where Democrats and Republicans came together to discuss child care solutions for America’s families …
CNN Debate: 2020 Candidates Agree on Child Care
Last night during the final Democratic presidential debate before the Iowa Caucuses next month, child care became one of the rare unifying issues among the 2020 contenders. Debate moderator Brianne …
U.S. Chamber Report Highlights Potential for Businesses to Engage in Early Learning Discussions
In addition to the proven benefits of early learning for children, access to affordable, reliable, and high-quality early learning and care provides working families with better job stability and overall …
FFYF Submits Comments on Improving Access to High-Quality, Affordable Child Care
In October, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued a request for information calling for an honest assessment of child care in …
October is Head Start Awareness Month!
This October, FFYF is honoring Head Start Awareness Month — an important opportunity to reflect on and appreciate this critical federal early learning program. Since its founding in 1965, Head …
Urban Institute Examines Possible Impact Resulting from Proposed Expansion of Child Care Supports
Today, the Pritzker Children’s Initiative hosted a webinar highlighting a new report from the Urban Institute which modeled the impact associated with a drastic increase in funding for child care …
See How All 50 States Use CCDBG Funding to Support Working Families Access Quality Child Care
Yesterday, our friends at Child Care Aware of America released a series of state fact sheets on the status of funding through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) …
GAO Report Examines Patchwork of Early Learning and Care Programs From State to State
Head Start and the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) provide critical funding for high-quality early learning and care programs, and yet they are able to serve only a small fraction …
