To stave off the child care crisis, Congress must reach across aisles

Congress has a long bipartisan track record of supporting child care and early learning programs so parents can work and children can learn in safe, enriching environments. It is against this backdrop that Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to sustain the child care industry and support working parents during 2020. Sadly, the emergency child care funding provided in the American Rescue Plan did not pass with bipartisan support. As we look ahead into recovery, members of both parties must work together to establish long-term solutions for working parents and child care programs.

One bit of good news to come out of the pandemic is that our nation recognizes the vital role child care plays in our society and economy. Over two-thirds of both Republican and Democrat voters say elected officials should make child care and early learning a priority in 2021. 

The pandemic has also helped us understand the pervasive challenges within the child care industry that caused it to be unworkable for parents and providers even before the pandemic. As we saw our coworkers, family members and friends juggling work and caregiving responsibilities, we learned these challenges, while certainly intensified, are not new. It has long been difficult for many parents to find affordable, high-quality child care that meets their needs. For too long, child care businesses have operated in an untenable financial position and child care workers generally make near-poverty level wages. This past year has highlighted what many parents, providers and early childhood educators have been saying for years: our child care system needs to look different.

In response to the immediate needs of parents and providers, the American Rescue Plan includes a remarkable investment in one of our nation’s most essential industries, and will help countless families. The plan represents a roughly 245 percent funding increase to the Child Care and Development Block Grant, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.   

But we cannot be lulled into complacency, thinking that funding will be the end of the pursuit for a better child care system. Instead, analyzing how child care funding is structured and distributed must continue to be a priority for all members of Congress and for the Biden administration. Bipartisan legislation should concentrate on updating, improving and reforming  the options that help working families and child care businesses, to build a more sustainable child care market.

First and foremost, parent voices must be heard, understood and addressed if we are to truly meet their needs. Understanding the various factors that drive parents’ child care decisions is key to creating a high-quality system that aligns with what parents want for their families.  

Congress needs to address programs that are long overdue for reauthorizations and funding increases. For instance, long-term reforms are needed for the child and dependent care tax credit to help more low and middle-income families afford child care. Additionally, increasing investments in the child care entitlement to states would be one of the best ways to improve stable access to high-quality care for low-income families.  

New ideas to address the child care gap across this country, including bolstering the child care workforce and strengthening child care businesses are also important topics for Congress to come together on. Additionally, any bipartisan package should invest in building and renovating child care facilities as this will also be critical to diminishing the gap and improving the nation’s supply of child care. Just as workers require roads, bridges and tunnels to get to work, so too do workers need access to high quality child care.  

One way for Congress to start working towards these goals is by recognizing the many ways in which states spent their emergency funding and infuse those lessons into conversations about reforms. States’ innovative approaches ensured the needs of families and communities were addressed, while facilitating investments in areas typically not allowed or prioritized. State plans were responsive to parents’ desires: the vast majority of parents approved of their state’s plans to use the funds.

Congress has an opportunity to turn these lessons and substantial funding increases into long-term, sustainable improvements. National leaders could redefine what it means to support our neighbors, coworkers, communities and broader economy. But this opportunity will only materialize if leaders take the difficult, but necessary step, of reaching across the aisle. Only then will our nation have a child care system that works for the child care industry and the parents and families they serve. 

Linda Smith is director of the early childhood initiative with the Bipartisan Policy Center and served as the deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mark Shriver is the president of Save the Children Action Network.