Child Care Crisis
The Child Care crisis in the United States is straining both the economy and taxpayers. A recent report by ReadyNation reveals that inadequate care for children under 3 results in $122 billion annually in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue. This is more than double the losses incurred in 2018. The lack of affordable child care is not only an issue for parents but also for the companies that employ them, as lost productivity costs employers $23 billion per year.
Why Child Care Crisis Strains US Economy?
Child Care problems have a significant impact on parents in the workplace, with nearly 3 in 4 parents reporting that access to child care is a challenge. This has resulted in parents being reprimanded, fired, or having to turn down job offers or further education and training. For parents of infants and toddlers, this has resulted in a loss of $78 billion annually in foregone earnings and job search expenses. The Child Care crisis also negatively impacts the future workforce by depriving children of nurturing, stimulating environments that support healthy brain development.
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The ReadyNation report shows that taxpayers lose an average of nearly $1,500 per working parent annually due to the Child Care crisis. The United States invests very little in child care, with businesses tending not to invest much in care either. Consequently, nearly 3 in 4 parents surveyed said that access to child care is a challenge.
Although President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better initiative aimed to limit a family’s Child Care expenses to a maximum of 7% of their income, it failed to overcome partisan gridlock in Congress. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, has been pushing for reforms to the Child Care system for years, and her Child Care for Working Families Act would cap a family’s Child Care expenses at 7% of their income. However, despite some increases in Child Care funding under Biden, more ambitious proposals have struggled to progress.
Overall, child care is essential to a healthy, inclusive economy, and without it, there can be no economic recovery. Building a better Child Care system is the best opportunity to unlock the power of the nation’s economy. As members of Congress call for more federal support, the United States needs to invest more in child care to avoid losing billions of dollars annually in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.
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