US-funded child care aid nearing reality with Biden bill
3 years, 1 month ago

US-funded child care aid nearing reality with Biden bill

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Women — and some men — in Congress have been fighting for government child care assistance for almost 80 years. All told, the federal government’s new programs for paid parental leave, child care and an expanded child tax credit “would be pretty major, if not landmark, change for social policy and expanding its reach into the depths of how families cope in the modern economy,” said Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University. A quarter of a century later, Nixon invoked both communism and traditional female roles when he vetoed bipartisan legislation to federally fund child care, saying it was “radical” and had “family‐weakening implications.” “We’re still fighting for it,” says House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat who has been pushing for child care subsidies and other programs to help families since she was a Senate aide in the 1980s. Republicans say the programs’ costs— almost $400 billion for the child care and preschool piece alone — are far too high and would create more government intrusion into families’ lives. The House bill would phase in the new child care entitlement program over three years, starting immediately for prekindergarten for families who earn their state’s median income.

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History of this topic

Here's where voters approved a tax hike to help pay for child care
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Here's where voters approved a tax hike to help pay for child care

NPR  

Here's where voters approved a tax hike to help pay for child care toggle caption SDI Productions Child care was on the ballot in several cities and counties across the country. "The American people have resoundingly called for — both before and during the election cycle — affordable, accessible, quality child care solutions," wrote the organization's CEO Susan Gale Perry. …

Child care is a ‘textbook example of a broken market.’ Where do Harris, Trump go from here?
4 months ago

Child care is a ‘textbook example of a broken market.’ Where do Harris, Trump go from here?

LA Times  

Children get help from staff during a class at Educare Los Angeles at Long Beach in March. The ‘broken child-care market’ Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen described the child care system in 2021 as “a textbook example of a broken market.” Child-care employees are some of the lowest-paid workers in the economy, at an average of $13.22 an …

Day care prices aren’t getting better. So states are stepping in
7 months, 1 week ago

Day care prices aren’t getting better. So states are stepping in

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Across the country, the story for families is virtually the same: Child care is unaffordable for many, hard to find for those who can pay, and financially precarious for day care operators and their employees. Then, in 2022, New Mexico made child care free for nearly all the state’s families, amending the constitution to fund early childhood …

Can you afford to take care of your children and parents? Biden revives effort to lower costs
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Can you afford to take care of your children and parents? Biden revives effort to lower costs

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden runs for reelection, he’s resurrecting proposals to reshape American life from the cradle to the grave by lowering the cost of child care, expanding preschool opportunities and making home aides more available to the elderly. “So when the legislation wasn’t passed, we got to work on an executive order that really was forward-leaning across …

America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees
8 months ago

America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees

Associated Press  

AUBURN, Wash. — After a series of lower-paying jobs, Nicole Slemp finally landed one she loved. “The stay-at-home moms in this country are disproportionately mothers who’ve been pushed out of the workforce because they don’t make enough to make it work financially to pay for child care,” Calarco said. But a Labor Department study found fewer than 50 American counties …

Should the government do more to help children? This bipartisan group thinks so
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Should the government do more to help children? This bipartisan group thinks so

NPR  

Should the government do more to help children? That's why the collaborative recommends "a simple, predictable, and easy-to-access cash benefit for children" — especially for families with young children. Families need more — and better — child care options The research is clear: Making sure a child has a safe, nurturing environment not only pays dividends for the lifetime of …

Watch: US treasury secretary discusses plan to lower health care and drug costs
10 months, 1 week ago

Watch: US treasury secretary discusses plan to lower health care and drug costs

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Watch as Janet Yellen, the US treasury secretary, makes remarks …

More Republicans back spending on child care, saying it’s an economic issue
10 months, 2 weeks ago

More Republicans back spending on child care, saying it’s an economic issue

Associated Press  

Like a lot of mothers, North Dakota state Rep. Emily O’Brien struggled to find infant care when her daughter Lennon was born in 2019. Not long after, O’Brien persuaded her colleagues to back a plan to invest $66 million in child care, an unprecedented sum for a state that had, like others with Republican leadership, long resisted such spending. In …

Youngkin calls for increased state spending on child care programs
1 year ago

Youngkin calls for increased state spending on child care programs

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday that the proposed budget he will soon unveil for the next two fiscal years will include an increase in state spending on early learning and child care programs. According to Youngkin’s remarks and a broad outline released by his office, his budget will call for over $448 million in spending …

The “Solution” to Our Child Care Woes Will Make Everything Worse
1 year ago

The “Solution” to Our Child Care Woes Will Make Everything Worse

Slate  

Swapping an office cubicle for my kitchen table a few days a week was a game-changer for me back when my kids were still small. The country’s biggest for-profit child care chains such as Bright Horizons, Learning Care Group, and KinderCare are not part of this grim picture. “We got nervous,” Chad Dunkley, co-chairman of the consortium’s board and chief …

White House wants $56 billion from Congress for disaster relief, child care and high-speed Internet
1 year, 1 month ago

White House wants $56 billion from Congress for disaster relief, child care and high-speed Internet

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The White House is asking lawmakers for nearly $56 billion in emergency spending to help the government respond to natural disasters, shore up funding for child care centers and keep high-speed internet running for low-income families — outlining President Joe Biden’s domestic priorities as Congress simultaneously weighs sending billions for conflicts abroad. The package also includes $16 billion …

Child care programs just lost thousands of federal dollars. Families and providers scramble to cope
1 year, 2 months ago

Child care programs just lost thousands of federal dollars. Families and providers scramble to cope

Associated Press  

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Kaitlyn Adkins is studying law to help families in her community impacted by the opioid epidemic at the heart of West Virginia coal country. Mother of three Kaitlyn Adkins, an Appalachian School of Law student, speaks about the necessity of child care access for parents working a job or toward agree after dropping off her kids at …

Child care has long been ‘broken.’ Things may get worse this weekend
1 year, 2 months ago

Child care has long been ‘broken.’ Things may get worse this weekend

LA Times  

Sirens are sounding for American families that on Saturday the nation will fall off a “child-care cliff.” That’s when $37 billion in child-care pandemic relief from the federal government will expire. California pain points persist The industry still faces myriad pain points — teacher shortages, the high cost of materials and utilities eating into narrow profit margins, parents who still …

Opinion: Federal funding for child care is about to fall off a cliff. Why that’s a disaster
1 year, 2 months ago

Opinion: Federal funding for child care is about to fall off a cliff. Why that’s a disaster

LA Times  

When child care funds from the American Rescue Plan Act run out, 70,000 programs across the country are expected to close. The American Rescue Plan Act supported child care in two ways: It allowed states to expand financial support to families directly, and it provided funding to early education programs to stay open amid economic instability. For instance, the American …

A pediatrician's view on child poverty rates: 'I need policymakers to do their job'
1 year, 3 months ago

A pediatrician's view on child poverty rates: 'I need policymakers to do their job'

NPR  

A pediatrician's view on child poverty rates: 'I need policymakers to do their job' Enlarge this image toggle caption Cavan Images/Getty Images/Cavan Images RF Cavan Images/Getty Images/Cavan Images RF Child poverty in the U.S. has more than doubled in a year, and we have a pretty clear idea what drove it: Congress let the expanded child tax credit expire. The …

With thousands of child care programs at risk of closing, Democrats press for more money
1 year, 3 months ago

With thousands of child care programs at risk of closing, Democrats press for more money

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are pushing for a new round of money to keep the nation’s child care industry afloat, saying thousands of programs are at risk of closing when federal pandemic relief runs out this month. Legislation introduced in both chambers on Wednesday would provide $16 billion a year over the next five years, awarded as grants to …

New Mexico proposal would extend free child care, boost pay
1 year, 7 months ago

New Mexico proposal would extend free child care, boost pay

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico would extend indefinitely no-pay child care for most children up to age 5 with increased payment rates to private and public child care providers under proposed regulations announced Monday. New Mexico’s current child care subsidies — among the most expansive in the nation — were initiated with federal coronavirus relief money. New Mexico in …

Biden signs executive order to improve access to child care
1 year, 8 months ago

Biden signs executive order to improve access to child care

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that contains more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers. “It’s about making sure taxpayers get the best value for the investments they’ve already made.” Biden also has called for more money for the care economy in his 2024 budget …

WH economic report: Money for child care would help growth
1 year, 9 months ago

WH economic report: Money for child care would help growth

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The White House is making the case for more government support for child care programs in an economic report that it released Monday, drawing on extensive research to say additional spending would improve kids’ lives, increase the quality of early childhood schooling and enable more women to hold jobs. Rouse added that government support for child care would …

‘Desperation': Child care struggle worsens in rural U.S.
2 years, 2 months ago

‘Desperation': Child care struggle worsens in rural U.S.

Associated Press  

ASTORIA, Ore. — A shortage of child care in the U.S. has become so acute that it’s reaching far into rural communities, including one northwestern Oregon county where future embryos are in line for a spot at Amy Atkinson’s nursery and preschool. There’s nothing available.” Half of U.S. residents live in child care deserts where fewer than a third of …

U.S. child-care aid would supercharge moms’ employment, study says
2 years, 6 months ago

U.S. child-care aid would supercharge moms’ employment, study says

LA Times  

A new study suggests federal subsidies for child care would increase workforce participation by mothers and move children from unlicensed to licensed care. Subsidizing child care, a key part of President Biden’s pandemic recovery legislation that has so far failed to pass into law, would increase the number of mothers in the workforce and boost wages for industry workers, among …

Democrats Are Trying To Salvage Their Party's Child Care Initiative
2 years, 7 months ago

Democrats Are Trying To Salvage Their Party's Child Care Initiative

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Sen. Patty Murray spent the past year leading calls to create a comprehensive American child care program as part of the “Build Back Better” legislation that President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders were putting together. “I have spoken to so many moms and parents who had to quit their jobs entirely because they either couldn’t afford child …

Federal COVID-19 Relief Saved Child Care For Millions, Report Says
2 years, 9 months ago

Federal COVID-19 Relief Saved Child Care For Millions, Report Says

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING If you are in a working family and have managed to hold on to your child care during the past two years, you may have the federal government to thank, according to a new report. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images The report’s calculations draw on data from two independent groups that focus on early childhood: the National …

Parents and caregivers of young children say they've hit pandemic rock bottom
2 years, 11 months ago

Parents and caregivers of young children say they've hit pandemic rock bottom

NPR  

Parents and caregivers of young children say they've hit pandemic rock bottom Enlarge this image toggle caption Cooper Neill for NPR Cooper Neill for NPR "I had a parent tell me to f*** off last week," Cori Berg said. Working parents can't always afford to keep a sick child home Enlarge this image toggle caption Mohamed Sadek for NPR Mohamed …

What’s inside Biden’s $2T social and climate measure
3 years, 1 month ago

What’s inside Biden’s $2T social and climate measure

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion plan to boost social and education programs as well as protect against global warming has passed the House, pushing it one step closer to law. FAMILY/CHILD CARE — Eligible workers would receive up to four weeks of paid leave to reimburse them for time taken to care for a new child or …

Democrats’ bill plans the biggest expansion of public education in a century
3 years, 1 month ago

Democrats’ bill plans the biggest expansion of public education in a century

LA Times  

Democrats are seeking to provide universal preschool and subsidized child care in one of the largest pieces of the Build Back Better social spending bill. “Democrats want to sweep the first five years of children’s lives into a new set of top-down, one-size-fits-all, Washington-knows-best regulations.” Several Republicans have complained the policy would exclude faith-based preschool or day-care programs. “The way …

What’s in Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ framework?
3 years, 1 month ago

What’s in Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ framework?

LA Times  

The White House released a framework Thursday on President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, a $1.85-trillion outline that Democrats plan to pass in Congress without any Republican support. Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that Democrats are “on a path to get this all done.” The White House said the cost of the framework is offset by nearly $2 trillion in …

What’s in, and what’s out, as Democrats trim Biden bill
3 years, 2 months ago

What’s in, and what’s out, as Democrats trim Biden bill

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — After months of talks, Democrats are edging closer to an agreement on what programs and policies to include in President Joe Biden’s massive plan to expand health and safety net programs and combat global warming. But here’s where the bill stands so far, according to lawmakers and aides: — A child tax credit increase would continue for another …

Biden touts child-care provisions in Democratic spending bill
3 years, 2 months ago

Biden touts child-care provisions in Democratic spending bill

LA Times  

President Biden on Friday implored Congress to pass his party’s major spending bill, saying it would expand access to child care and make the U.S. more competitive in the global economy. “Millions of American parents, especially moms, can’t be part of the workforce because they can’t afford the cost of child care,” Biden said Friday in a library at the …

Biden $3.5T plan tests voter appeal of expansive gov’t role
3 years, 3 months ago

Biden $3.5T plan tests voter appeal of expansive gov’t role

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s “build back better” agenda is poised to be the most far-reaching federal investment since FDR’s New Deal or LBJ’s Great Society — a prodigious effort to tax the rich and shift money into projects and programs touching the lives of nearly every American. “We’re doing hard things,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairman …

Here’s what’s in the Senate version of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan
3 years, 4 months ago

Here’s what’s in the Senate version of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan

CNN  

CNN — Senate Democrats released their sweeping $3.5 trillion budget resolution on Monday, August 9 – the latest step in their drive to expand education, health care and child care support, tackle the climate crisis and make further investments in infrastructure. RELATED: Schumer on $3.5 trillion bill: ‘We’re moving full speed ahead’ The Senate Budget Committee, which released a framework …

New Mexico gives most US funding to child care of any state
3 years, 5 months ago

New Mexico gives most US funding to child care of any state

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico is directing the nation’s biggest chunk of federal coronavirus relief money to helping middle-class families pay for child care, a vast expansion aimed at getting parents back to work in one of the poorest states in America. She added that the state could one day go even further: “Why don’t we have universal access …

Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass
3 years, 5 months ago

Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the large economic package Democrats hope to pass this year. Asked if that meant she would vote against a package that did not include it, Warren responded: “It’s not possible to talk about infrastructure …

Republicans Tar New Child Benefit As Welfare Without Work
3 years, 7 months ago

Republicans Tar New Child Benefit As Welfare Without Work

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Democrats have changed their approach to social programs, embracing unconditional cash assistance without the kind of “work requirements” they loved in the Bill Clinton years. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, and Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, have called it “welfare without work.” “Good jobs and rising …

A closer look at Biden’s $1.8T for families and education
3 years, 7 months ago

A closer look at Biden’s $1.8T for families and education

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration wants to make a $1.8 trillion down payment on the future of children, families and higher education, saying it would produce lasting benefits for the economy. Families earning 1.5 times their state median income would pay a maximum of 7% of their income for all children under age 5. The credits would cover as …

Biden to propose free preschool, as speech details emerge
3 years, 7 months ago

Biden to propose free preschool, as speech details emerge

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will call for free preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, a $200 billion investment to be rolled out as part of his sweeping American Families Plan being unveiled Wednesday in an address to Congress. The president’s speech and the rollout of the American Families Plan come as Biden is marking his first 100 days …

American Families Plan: What’s in Biden’s $1.8 trillion care proposal
3 years, 7 months ago

American Families Plan: What’s in Biden’s $1.8 trillion care proposal

CNN  

CNN — A month after he laid out a roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at helping the nation recover from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden is set to unveil an additional $1.8 trillion federal investment in education, child care and paid family leave during his first address to Congress on Wednesday. The proposal would also extend or make …

Biden’s ‘Families Plan’ would tax rich to help schools, childcare, community college and more
3 years, 7 months ago

Biden’s ‘Families Plan’ would tax rich to help schools, childcare, community college and more

LA Times  

President Biden is proposing an ambitious $1.8-trillion, 10-year plan to subsidize American families’ education, child care, health insurance and job leave costs — an investment in workers intended to complement his earlier call for infrastructure spending and much more, to rebuild an economy hobbled by pandemic and economic inequality. The latest package would be paid for in part by turning …

Editorial: Child care is in crisis, but we can fix it — and help the economy, too
3 years, 8 months ago

Editorial: Child care is in crisis, but we can fix it — and help the economy, too

LA Times  

Our pandemic-stricken society cheered the brave first-responders and medical crews who confronted COVID-19 risks every day, thanked grocery workers and tipped delivery people extra. Nearly a third of the children in need of child care went without it; their parents relied on a patchwork of family and friends for help, sometimes working fewer hours as a result. The crisis in …

Harris praises Connecticut for spending federal aid on kids
3 years, 8 months ago

Harris praises Connecticut for spending federal aid on kids

Associated Press  

Vice President Kamala Harris praised Connecticut officials Friday for how the state plans to spend some of the billions of dollars from the newly passed coronavirus relief package on education and child care initiatives, noting the pandemic has given policymakers an opportunity to address longstanding challenges. The Democrat, who made her first visit to the state since the November election, …

How Biden's Plan Could Help Reshape The Finances Of American Families
3 years, 9 months ago

How Biden's Plan Could Help Reshape The Finances Of American Families

NPR  

How Biden's Plan Could Help Reshape The Finances Of American Families Enlarge this image toggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP Andrew Harnik/AP For Nancy Cordeiro, a plan by the Biden administration to provide her family with a monthly allowance is more than just about money that she sorely needs. "This is landmark legislation that would really slash child poverty and target benefits …

House democrats to introduce $3,000 child benefit legislation
3 years, 10 months ago

House democrats to introduce $3,000 child benefit legislation

Hindustan Times  

Democratic leaders from the US House of Representatives will unveil legislation on Monday that would provide millions of families at least USD 3,000 per child, advancing a key provision in President Joe Biden's USD 1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. Richard Neal, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, who is leading the crafting of the legislation for the stimulus package, …

Overlooked in Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan: A push to cut child poverty in half
3 years, 10 months ago

Overlooked in Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan: A push to cut child poverty in half

LA Times  

A major anti-poverty effort that would lift prospects for millions of children and close a long-standing gap in the nation’s economic safety net appears headed for approval by Congress, tucked into the COVID-19 relief bill, where it has largely been overshadowed by the debate over the size of stimulus checks. “That’s the way to think about the trade-offs.” A plan …

Comparing the Biden and GOP stimulus proposals
3 years, 10 months ago

Comparing the Biden and GOP stimulus proposals

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden and a group of 10 Republican senators have very different ideas for the next coronavirus relief bill. Biden’s plan would cost $465 billion, according to the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, while the Republicans say their measure would cost an estimated $220 billion. GOP: The senators would also extend enhanced food stamp benefits …

Vaccines to stimulus checks: Here’s what’s in Biden plan
3 years, 11 months ago

Vaccines to stimulus checks: Here’s what’s in Biden plan

Associated Press  

— President-elect Joe Biden is proposing a $1.9 trillion plan to expand coronavirus vaccinations, help individuals and jump-start the economy. Here’s a look at what’s in Biden’s plan: CONTAINING THE VIRUS — A $20 billion national program would establish community vaccination centers across the U.S. and send mobile units to remote communities. — An additional $50 billion would expand testing …

Why Biden's free childcare plan is a worthy feminist reform
4 years, 1 month ago

Why Biden's free childcare plan is a worthy feminist reform

Salon  

Joe Biden wasn't the first choice for many women during the Democratic presidential primaries, yet the president-elect's social agenda has proven to be surprisingly feminist in its orientation. According to the Biden-Harris transition website, the administration plans to make it "far easier to afford child care and to ensure aging relatives and people with disabilities have better access to home …

Trump v Biden: Who will win over stressed-out parents?
4 years, 2 months ago

Trump v Biden: Who will win over stressed-out parents?

Al Jazeera  

Faced with working full-time and managing my five-year-old’s online learning, I shelled out $20,000 for a private, outdoor kindergarten. LeanIn co-founders Sheryl Sandberg and Rachel Thomas put it bluntly in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: “If we had a panic button, we’d be hitting it.” While the COVID-19 crisis destroyed the fragile web so many working families have knit …

U.S. Faces 'A Child Care Emergency,' Biden Says In Unveiling $775 Billion Plan
4 years, 5 months ago

U.S. Faces 'A Child Care Emergency,' Biden Says In Unveiling $775 Billion Plan

NPR  

U.S. Faces 'A Child Care Emergency,' Biden Says In Unveiling $775 Billion Plan Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Updated at 3 p.m. The proposal, which Biden outlined in a speech Tuesday afternoon, would emphasize tax credits and state funding subsidies to make child care more affordable and accessible, and make …

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