Letters To The Editor: Child Care, Moms Helping Moms, and Long-Term Solutions
The following letter ran in the Washington Post on 10/2/24:
As reported in the Sept. 23 online article “Moms nationwide are leaving gift cards in diaper boxes. Here’s why.,” TikTok users across the country are slipping gift cards and cash into packages of diapers and formula. It’s unbelievably heartwarming to see strangers take note of the challenges that moms and dads can face; these small acts of kindness can go a long way. But it should also spark a discussion about ways we can make sure parents have what they need, especially when it comes to major expenses including child care.
Robust funding for federal programs and supercharging tax credits such as the child tax credit and child and dependent tax credit can give parents the latitude they need. The latter credit is the only provision of the tax code created to help parents offset the cost of child care. It helps working parents keep more of what they make by allowing them to claim child-care expenses as work-related when they file taxes.
The catch? The credit hasn’t been updated in two decades and reaches only a small percentage of families. Meanwhile, the average value of the credit ($600) has been swiftly outpaced by the average cost of child care ($11,582). Simply put: The child and dependent care tax credit is in desperate need of an update.
When the credit was temporarily expanded in 2021, the average payment per family increased from $560 to $2,127. If a parent found that in a diaper box today, it would be a miracle. And we can deliver similar results for families. There are multiple bipartisan bills in front of Congress that would reform tax policies so parents could keep more of what they make to offset the price of child care.
Sarah Rittling, Washington
The writer is the executive director of First Five Years Fund.