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Child Care Tax Legislation: 119ᵗʰ Congress
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) This credit is specifically targeted to help low- and middle-income working parents offset the cost of child care, but with an average benefit …

Survey Data Supports the Need for Better Access to Child Care for Parents of Infants and Toddlers
Families with infants and toddlers are struggling to find consistent access to child care, according to a March 2025 fact sheet from RAPID. RAPID, based in the Stanford Center on …

How a Lack of Affordable Child Care Impacts the Economy
Two-thirds of all children ages five and under need some form of child care because all of the adults in their home are working. But child care remains both expensive …

FFYF Analysis of 2025 State of the State Addresses
Since 2019, First Five Years Fund (FFYF) has analyzed State of the State addresses given by governors across the country. This year’s analysis looked at the 37 governors who delivered …

Child Care and the Federal Tax Code
Millions of families across the United States need child care. Yet for too many, child care is hard to find and even harder to afford. Congress can lead the way. …

Total Federal TANF & State MOE Expenditures for Child Care and Early Learning
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides federal grants to states to design and operate programs that help low-income families achieve self-sufficiency. TANF plays a crucial role in …

A Story Of Momentum: The Achievements Fueling Our Work in 2025
2025 is officially here! And we are ready to get to work for families and our nation’s youngest learners.Before diving into the exciting work ahead, we want to take a …

NEW REPORT: The Positive Impact of Public Investment on Child Care and Beyond
The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently released a report on the impact of relief funding on early care and education programs and highlighted the importance of these investments. Pandemic-Era …

First Five Years Fund: An Opportunity to Prioritize Urgent Child Care Needs in 2025
A message from Executive Director Sarah Rittling: Child care in the United States remains unaffordable, inaccessible, and in short supply. As we look to the new Congress and Administration, First …

Resource Highlights Workforce Crisis in Child Care and Early Education
This month, the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley released their 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index, which provides an overview of the policies and …

ACF Awards Approximately $115 Million in Head Start funds to Serve About 5,000 More Children
Last week, the Administration for Children and Families announced $200 million in funds for early care and education – almost $87 million in new PDG B-5 awards and almost $115 …

New Evidence Suggests Expanding Access to Pre-K is Good for the Economy
The White House Counsel of Economic Advisers recently released an issue brief presenting new findings that investing in universal pre-K has broad economic benefits. Child Care is Infrastructure: Evidence from …