Bipartisan Congressional Briefing Reinforces Undeniable Need for Dedicated Child Care Relief

This week, Child Care Relief hosted a virtual briefing on the critical need for Congress to include a child care stabilization fund in the next economic stimulus package.

In case you weren’t able to join, here are some highlights from the moving testimonies by parents, providers, state administrators, and members of the business community:

Lucy Recio from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) presented results from the organization’s latest survey of childcare providers, which indicates that 41 out of every 50 programs are expected to close within the year without additional, dedicated stabilization funding. “The desperation is palpable, and I cannot sugarcoat this: I have been working in this space for over a decade and I have not seen the devastation and loss like what is facing our child care sector today,” she added.
Calvert’s ABC Preschool and Nursery’s program director Jennifer Calvert expressed her fear for the future of her Aberdeen, Mississippi-based child care center: “As programs like mine are closing, this will not only be a loss for individuals like myself who have spent years building up my program, but also for the families we serve who rely on our services, for children in our community who will miss out on the strong start that we know early childhood education provides, and for our community which will not be able to recover without us.”
Woody Dover from Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning explained that the state had to jump into quick action to support and stabilize child care providers, but that there is much more work to be done. “Though the CARES Act funding received has been significant and critical, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to how many child care providers will eventually be able to reopen and serve the needs of families,” he said.
Rasheed Malik from the Center for American Progress predicted that, without sufficient financial relief, the already-scarce supply of child care across the country – particularly in rural communities – will be decimated, leading to widespread economic challenges nationwide.
Dr. Elanna Yalow of KinderCare Education and the Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) explained how COVID caused drastic loss in enrollment and increase in cost for providers: “Our operations are not sustainable, as we continue to operate many programs at considerable losses based on approximately a 30 to 35% increase in operating costs for staffing, supplies, and cleaning, while at significantly reduced capacity and revenues, serving only approximately half the number of children.”
Dasja Reed, a Strolling Thunder parent from New Orleans, Louisiana, had to leave her job in March when her son’s daycare closed and is unable to return until she has access to care: “I’m still, unfortunately, out of work because I haven’t been able to find a daycare–I haven’t been able to find anything for my son right now.”
Julia Barfield of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation discussed the central role of child care in facilitating return to work, citing how 20% of parents are unsure if they can return to pre-COVID working conditions, and how 40% of employers are concerned that parents will be unable to go back to work due to lack of child care.
Scott Hall of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce said, “child care is the grease that allows the gear of American businesses to move. Without it, we will not recover.” Data gathered by the organization’s recent survey shows that child care constitutes business owners’ second biggest concern about COVID, closely trailing behind their concern for personal and employee safety.
Robin Phillips, CEO of Child Care Aware of Missouri, shared that COVID-19 closures wiped out more than half of the state’s child care programs, but that the industry faced tremendous challenges long before the pandemic: “COVID has pulled back the curtain on everything that’s been lacking in this underfunded, underappreciated system.”

You can watch a recording of the briefing on Child Care Relief’s YouTube channel.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation aimed at stabilizing the child care industry: Republican Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the Back to Work Child Care Grants Act earlier this week, and Democrat Senator Patty Murray and Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the Child Care is Essential Act in May. It is critical that these proposals are included in the upcoming COVID-19 recovery package.

If you are interested in learning more…

These resources dive deep into COVID-19’s impact on the child care industry:

Our child care stabilization fund explainer walks through how this form of dedicated relief will enable states to shore up the child care system and allow parents to return to work.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conducted a new survey of child care providers across the country that found 40% of them, and 50% of minority-owned providers, expect that they will close permanently without additional public assistance.
A recent survey by Child Care Aware of America and Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) shows that 87% of voters support direct federal assistance for child care providers.
“It’s past time to start talking solutions.” Leadership of SCAN and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce penned an op-ed in The Hill to call for long-overdue support for the child care industry.
Bipartisan Policy Center’s new report concludes that only 6% of the nation’s child care providers received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The Bipartisan Policy Center also hosted an online forum of 10 state child care administrators, who reached a consensus that CARES Act funds, though effective and needed, will not sustain the child care industry past the summer.
This interactive map by the Center for American Progress (CAP) explores how COVID-19 has exacerbated child care deserts, communities where there are three times as many children as there are licensed child care capacity.
An online discussion hosted by CAP and NAEYC heard from child care providers and their experiences in caring for children of essential workers and applying for loans.
Polling data released by a University of Oregon research group finds that 48% of lower-income households will not be able to return to their pre-COVID child care arrangement.

U.S. Chamber Foundation and Save The Children Action Network Call For Long Overdue Support For America’s Child Care System

In a recent op-ed published in The Hill, Mark K. Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), and Cheryl Oldham, vice president of Education Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the bipartisan consensus on the urgent need to support child care. According to a survey conducted by SCAN, 87% of American voters–82% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats–favor public assistance in support of the struggling child care industry.

The op-ed also draws attention to the dire outlook confronting the child care industry. Citing studies conducted by child care advocates, the authors warned that more than 4.5 million child care slots could be permanently lost at the current rate of closure, and called for the federal government to act quickly to allocate additional funds to stabilize the child care industry. “It’s past time to start talking about solutions,” wrote Shriver and Oldham.

Parent. Teacher. Employee. Chef. Counselor. Coach. Nurse. Playmate. Not necessarily in that order. Ask a working parent how well they’re wearing all of these hats right now. Ask a working parent if they think child care is a second- or third-tier issue.

The COVID-19 public health crisis has been a wake-up call to the role of the child care industry in our lives. Child care is essential to America’s economic recovery. Thirteen million working parents rely on this industry to care for their children while they do their jobs. In many cases, working parents will not be able to return to work if their child care programs are unable to reopen.

It’s past time to start talking about solutions. The supply of child care was declining before this pandemic, so without immediate, targeted support for providers, we risk losing them permanently. While critical support through the CARES Act was provided to small businesses early on in this crisis, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, only one-quarter of the child care market received a Paycheck Protection Loan. Child care cannot be reserved for second or third phases of re-opening. Without this industry’s survival and ability to care for and educate our young children, every other industry will struggle to return to work and our economic recovery will suffer.

In February, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation studied the economic impact on states and employers when the child care system breaks down. What this study found was staggering – billions of dollars lost annually during a time when unemployment was low and economies were strong. Pennsylvania alone loses $3.47 billion each year from breakdowns in child care. Persistent challenges with child care access for working parents – even in a booming economy – resulted in stalled growth, high turnover, and employees leaving the workforce.

The pandemic has decimated an already fragile industry comprised of small and very small businesses – many run by women and women of color – which are on the brink of collapse. According to this coalition of advocates, more than half of child care facilities have closed and may not reopen without relief. Additionally, more than 4.5 million child care slots will be permanently lost with these widespread closures. These are the small business owners—women, women of color, mothers, former teachers—who our communities need to stay in business.

A sharp decline in child care capacity would be an albatross to reopening the economy. Every day, businesses and chambers of commerce emphasize that accessible child care is a top-tier issue for them to start their return to work plans, and they are searching for answers and trying to find partners in their communities.

The Center for Disease Control’s public Framework for Reopening America identified the need for child care centers to allow the workforce to return to work. Businesses understand how access to child care impacts their employees’ ability to return to work, but we need targeted relief for providers so that they are still in business when families return.

New opinion polling suggests that American voters are keenly aware of the essential role child care plays for both families and business. In a new national survey from Save the Children Action Network and Child Care Aware of America, American voters overwhelmingly (87 percent) support providing support through the crisis so that current child care providers are able to make payroll and pay other expenses such as rent and utilities.

In a rare moment of unity, this support crosses partisan lines with 82 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of Democrats in favor. This bipartisan support is all the more remarkable when you consider that only 27 percent of voters reported that they would be personally impacted in some way if child care providers were unable to reopen. Voters recognize that it is in everyone’s interest for this industry to survive this crisis.

Yes, the child care industry needs our support. Child care is a two-generation workforce issue, essential to support the workforce of today and vital to develop our workforce of tomorrow. We need targeted and timely assistance to child care programs so that every other industry can return to work.

Mark K. Shriver is president of the Save the Children Action Network. Cheryl Oldham is senior vice president of the Center for Education and Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and vice president of Education Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Bank Street College of Education Shares Possible Solutions for a More Equitable Child Care System

A blog post authored by Bank Street College of Education recommends immediate steps and long-term solutions that states can adopt to make early care and education systems more equitable. Citing the impact of developmentally meaningful early childhood education and the broad public support for public assistance to child care providers, the blog calls for reforms that place racial justice and equity at the center.

The article specifically draws attention to the undervalued and underappreciated nature of the work provided by professional early childhood educators, who are primarily women of color. Prior to the pandemic, 4 in 5 early childhood educators earned less than $15 an hour, 1 in 7 received employer-sponsored healthcare, while black female educators made 84 cents to every dollar earned by their white counterparts.

Guidelines provided by Bank Street College of Education aim at supporting both professional and home-based early childhood educators and ushering in systemic change towards a more equitable early care and education system. The organization suggests that states focus on education quality beyond physical safety, pay and equip providers as educators, build diverse system- and policy-level leadership, and broaden engagement with caregivers outside of formal systems of care and education.

“As a country, we need to finally recognize and fund early care and education as the public good that it is,” the report reads. “We need to build a foundation that delivers on the promise of education as an expression of justice and a means towards a more equitable society.”

The blog post is published in conjunction with Bank Street’s white paper, Investing in the Birth-to-Three Workforce: A New Vision to Strengthen the Foundation for All Learning, and an online discussion on turning these guidelines into action.

Coalition Of 22 State Attorneys General Call for Federal Child Care Relief

In a letter sent to Senate Leadership last week, 22 attorneys general urged lawmakers to increase child care funding in the next stimulus package. The signers of the letter represent more than 150 million residents, including many parents and child care workers who have contacted the signers’ offices to plead for support.

The attorneys general supplemented these personal constituent stories with data and research, including only 16 percent of child care providers could survive lengthy closure without public assistance, and just 11 percent could survive a month-long closure.

The letter recognizes the positive impact of funding provided by the CARES Act, but pointed out that additional financial support is required to meet the needs of child care providers who are facing increased costs to comply with public health requirements and other uncertainties. Providers’ decreased revenues make it hard for them to rise up to the increased necessity of child care as parents prepare to return to work.

“We need a solution that meets the moment and treats childcare as the essential infrastructure it is,” the letter reads. “To be serious about an economic recovery is to address our country’s childcare funding crisis.”

POLL: Voters Overwhelmingly See Child Care Relief as Indispensable to America’s Economic Recovery

The results of a new bipartisan poll commissioned by the First Five Years Fund (FFYF) and Center for American Progress (CAP) show overwhelming demand among voters across the country for Congress to prioritize emergency relief funding for child care providers in the upcoming COVID-19 recovery package. The new survey data also shows this demand cuts across party lines and among key constituencies, including those who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 (74%), voters 65 and older (83%), suburban women (86%), and Black (97%) and Latinx (93%) voters.

The compelling results of this new poll, conducted by a bipartisan team from Hart Research Associates and New Bridge Strategy, showcase the unmistakable understanding among voters of every political persuasion that child care is central to America’s economic recovery, and that the industry must receive emergency funding in the upcoming Congressional package.

Key findings from the poll include:

More than 8 in 10 voters favor a federal child care stabilization fund in the upcoming COVID-19 recovery package, with overwhelming support across partisan lines, generations, and genders.
Even attaching a price tag as high as $50 billion for the child care stabilization fund has virtually no bearing on voter support.
Nearly 9 in 10 voters want child care providers at the front of the line for Congressional relief, prioritizing the industry above hotels, cruise lines, and real estate developers, and virtually tied with K-12 public schools.
Roughly 2 out of 3 voters say it is essential or very important for Congress to include support for child care in the next financial relief legislation.

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The results of this survey highlight the broad, bipartisan support among voters for federal relief for child care providers to ensure they can remain open and able to serve their communities so American families can go back to work. As the backbone of our economy, our recovery will be incomplete if we allow this industry to collapse.

Meanwhile, new data from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) indicates that approximately 40% of the nation’s child care providers say they will close permanently without financial assistance. Of those child care facilities that are currently open, 86% are serving fewer children now than they were prior to the pandemic. On average, enrollment is down by a whopping 67%.

Most child care providers typically operate with less than a 1 percent profit margin, and income is predominantly tied directly to the number of children enrolled. In fact, most child care centers only earn a profit if they are operating at close to 90% of enrollment.

At the same time, enrollment is guaranteed to remain low for the foreseeable future, while states’ reopening plans have been stalled or reversed and many parents grapple with the difficult choice between re-enrolling children in care or staying home to eliminate risk of contracting the coronavirus.

What’s more, in addition to mounting fixed costs like rent and payroll, paired with declining income, providers prioritizing efforts to ensure their staff and the children they support are safe and healthy which results in higher operational expenses due to cleaning and sanitation, personal protective equipment, training or retraining of teachers, recruiting new teachers as many have left the profession as a result of the pandemic, and many other new or increased costs associated with running a business in a post-COVID-19 world. On average, operating expenses are about 30% to 35% higher than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Without federal support, those costs will fall on parents who already struggled to afford high-quality care?

Simply put, many child care providers will be operating in the red for months to come. Others won’t be able to afford to remain open and widespread closures will have a disastrous impact on the economy. Congress must include a child care stabilization fund in this recovery package to keep the industry afloat. Without it, 4.5 million child care slots – half of the nation’s child care supply – will vanish.

Click here to see the full results of the poll and here for an analysis memo.

New Data Shows Less than 6% of Child Care Market Received PPP Funds

A new analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) found that less than than 6% of the overall child care market, comprised of 670,000 businesses that employ 1.5 million workers, received a PPP loan.

The child care industry received similar PPP amounts as sectors such as public administration, management, and utilities companies. However, the size of the child care industry is disproportionately large compared to these sectors, suggesting inequitable access to PPP funds for child care programs. Meanwhile, PPP reportedly still has roughly $130 billion in its coffers, which suggests that inadequate funding has little to do with child care providers’ inability to access loans.

While data on the number of child care programs that applied for the PPP is unavailable, it’s clear that only a small fraction of the potential applicants received funding— which is concerning for an industry that is so vital to our economic recovery. The vast majority of loans to child care providers were under $150,000, with only 11% of loans above this threshold.

Overall, the program helped to retain 31% of the child care workforce. Across the U.S., the SBA estimates that between 72% to 96% of small business payroll was covered by the loan program.

Click here learn more and view a state-by-state breakdown of PPP funding that went to the child care industry.

New Survey of Child Care Providers Paints Grim Picture Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Download the Report

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has released the findings of a new survey of over 5,000 child care providers across the country. The COVID-19 crisis has all but decimated the nation’s child care industry. And as this survey reveals, most providers say they won’t be able to stay in business without financial relief.

From NAEYC’s analysis:

Our nation’s children, families, early childhood educators, and businesses long have been denied the level of public investment necessary to ensure a thriving, high-quality child care system. Now, the lack of sufficient public investment in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced families, educators, and child care programs into a series of impossible choices between health, safety, quality, and financial solvency.

In telling their stories, child care providers have made it clear that they are doing everything they can to hold their programs together: scrimping, spending down savings, and sacrificing their own income. But the financial cliff is looming, and if help doesn’t come—and soon—in order to save child care, there will be little left of child care to save. The US economy will suffer the consequences as families returning to work can’t find quality, reliable care for their children.

Key findings from the survey results:

Approximately two out of five respondents—and half of those who are minority-owned businesses—are certain that they will close permanently without additional public assistance.
Nationally, 18% of child care centers and 9% of family child care homes remain closed.
Of those who are open, 86% of respondents are serving fewer children now than they were prior to the pandemic. On average, enrollment is down by 67%.
At the same time, upwards of 70% of child care centers are incurring substantial, additional costs for staff (72%), cleaning supplies (92%), and personal protective equipment (81%).
One in four early childhood educators reported that they have applied for or received unemployment benefits, while a full 73% of programs indicated that they have or will engage in layoffs, furloughs, and/or pay cuts. For minority-owned businesses, the situation is worse; only 12% have not resorted to these measures in order to survive.

Click here to read the full report from NAEYC.

Download the Report

Sens. Ernst, Alexander Unveil Bill to Support Child Care Providers, Working Families Amid COVID-19 Crisis

This week, Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), unveiled the Back to Work Child Care Grants Act of 2020, which would provide dedicated economic assistance to stabilize the child care industry and resources to child care providers amid the COVID-19 crisis. For many providers, the pandemic has spurred widespread closures and sharp drops in enrollment across the country, pushing the industry to the brink of collapse, and the cost to reopen while meeting critical health and safety needs is prohibitive for many small child care businesses. Underscoring the central role child care will play in our nation’s economic recovery, the legislation announced today would provide targeted relief to stabilize the industry through the coming months of uncertainty, continued declining enrollment, and critical but health and safety measures.

“Without question, the survival of the child care industry will be central to the success of America’s overall economic recovery from this crisis,” said First Five Years Fund (FFYF) Executive Director Sarah Rittling. “The pandemic has exacerbated an already difficult situation for families and providers, and surfaced the truly essential role that child care plays in this country. Dedicated efforts by Congress are necessary to ensuring child care providers of all sizes are not forced to close their doors, but instead have the means necessary to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for their staff and the children in their care. We are grateful to Senator Ernst and Chairman Alexander for their leadership in unveiling this legislation and in recognizing the needs of families and providers. We are hopeful that Congressional leaders will include a child care stabilization fund in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package, as any meaningful efforts to aid America’s economic recovery will be immediately undermined if the child care industry is allowed to collapse.”

To address the dire needs of child care providers who are struggling to keep their doors open to serve their communities, the Back to Work Child Care Grants Act:

Provides nine months of financial assistance for child care providers working to reopen and serve their communities;
Enables states to create a state-specific plan to support the child care industry in their state;
Provides resources and funding to states working to support child care providers who are reopening and trying to stay open;
Requires providers receiving assistance to follow all health and safety guidelines, ensuring a safe environment for children returning to care.

A survey conducted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) found approximately 40 percent of child care providers are certain they will close without additional assistance. The survey also found that 70 percent of providers are incurring substantial, additional costs for staff, cleaning supplies, and personal protective equipment, and 86 percent say they are serving fewer children than prior to the pandemic. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 60 percent of child care providers have closed their doors, and as many as one-third of the child care workforce lost their jobs at the height of the pandemic.

Senator Joni Ernst has led previous efforts in the Senate to ensure child care receives the necessary relief to survive the pandemic. With Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Sen. Ernst introduced a resolution in support of $25 billion in emergency relief funding for child care to support the industry in a future economic stimulus package, and she co-led a bipartisan letter with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and nearly two-dozen Senators calling for much-needed relief for the child care industry.

Meanwhile, House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committee Democrats introduced the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act, which provides funding and tax subsidies to states in order to increase access to safe, affordable child care, and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have introduced the Child Care Is Essential Act, which would provide $50 billion in funding for a child care stabilization fund. The Child Care is Essential Act was sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA).

Writing to lawmakers in June, national child and child care advocacy organizations in the Child Care Relief campaign called on Congress to create a child care stabilization fund, requesting substantial, additional relief for the thousands of child care providers and families across the country who are struggling during this pandemic. FFYF is hopeful that the recent bipartisan action in Congress to address this issue will result in substantive relief for this critical industry.

JULY 14: Join us for a Bipartisan Congressional Briefing on the Child Care Crisis

As the COVID-19 health and economic crisis continues to devastate communities across the country, few industries are at such great risk of collapsing as child care. Experts predict the pandemic will result in a permanent loss of nearly 4.5 million child care slots – roughly half of the nation’s child care supply – unless Congress acts soon to stabilize the industry. Dedicated relief through a child care stabilization fund will enable states to provide grants to struggling child care providers to help shore up the market and ensure parents have access to the care that will allow them to return to work.

Join us for a bipartisan web briefing on the nation’s child care crisis and hear from parents, providers, and those in the business community about why the child care industry is on the verge of collapse, why additional federal relief is needed to ensure the survival of the industry, and the critical role the child care industry plays in our nation’s economic recovery.

REGISTER HERE

New Analysis: Parents of Color Struggle Most During COVID-19 Crisis to Access, Afford Child Care

This week, the Center for American Progress released sobering new analysis of the child care industry that found decades of occupational and residential segregation have left communities of color at a disadvantage in the changing work environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. With less access to telework and flexibility that have afforded millions of parents to care for their young children during this health crisis, workers of color, many of whom are on the frontline of this pandemic, have been forced to make difficult decisions about returning to work or providing care for their children. Without a child care stabilization fund to prevent the entire industry from collapsing, the sharp decline in available child care further undermines the ability for families to recover financially from the pandemic, which has had a particularly devastating impact on communities of color.

The negative effects of a lack of child care in communities of color are not new. Before the pandemic, parents of color were more likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to experience child care-related job disruptions that affect their families’ finances. Child care has long been in short supply and prohibitively expensive for Black, Latinx, and indigenous families, with millions of families living in child care deserts.

Inadequate supply paired with high costs left parents with few options: spend outside their budgets; find cheaper, sometimes lower-quality care; or reduce their labor force participation. Previous CAP research found that in the years leading up to the pandemic, more than 2 million parents each year resorted to the latter option. Now, new analysis of data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) reveals that before the pandemic, Black and multiracial parents experienced child care-related job disruptions—such as quitting a job, not taking a job, or greatly changing their job—due to problems with child care at nearly twice the rate of white parents.

In the aftermath of the pandemic we will likely see even greater disparities in the availability and affordability of child care between communities of color and predominantly white communities, according to the analysis. While parents struggle to afford care, providers are seeing their funds dry up. Before the pandemic, child care businesses offering high-quality care operated on razor-thin margins, barely able to cover operating expenses and save for an emergency like this pandemic. Nearly half of the nation’s child care supply is expected to disappear as a result of mass closures due to COVID-19, and recent data shows more than 336,000 child care providers — many of whom are immigrants, African American, or Hispanic — have lost their jobs between March and April alone.

We cannot allow the child care industry to collapse during this pandemic. Without child care, our economic recovery will be slow, and it may never completely recover. Not only does Congress need to immediately address this growing crisis by establishing a stabilization fund that prevents any further closures and supports providers who are struggling to remain open, we must look to the future and build a child care system that actually works for families.

Read more of this analysis from the Center for American Progress here.