This week, parents from across the country will return to Washington to demand quality affordable child care from Congress — parents such as Monique Rosas from San Diego, who as a single mother relied on friends and family to watch her son because she could not afford consistent, licensed care. Although this generosity helped Rosas, her son did not get consistent early education programming. This patchwork of care prevented Rosas from making long-term plans and affected their livelihood, creating an incredibly stressful situation.
The FY 2018 appropriations bill passed in the Senate includes an increase of $2.37 billion in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), funding that is critical in supporting child care professionals, providers and families across the country. Yet the unfortunate truth is that there are millions of parents like Rosas, mothers and fathers who lie awake at night worrying about the kind of care their children are getting and how they can afford to pay for child care. Annually, working families without access to affordable child care and paid family and medical leave lose a combined $28.9 billion in wages.