Senate Hearing Child Care and Preschool: Cutting Costs for Working Families
Senate Hearing Child Care and Preschool: Cutting Costs for Working Families
In survey data published by the National Council of Nonprofits, nonprofits identified the lack of adequate child care as a key factor contributing to the nonprofit workforce shortages crisis. The nonprofit community letter, discussed above, states, “As employers and, in many cases, child care providers, charitable nonprofits are deeply concerned that the lack of child care and equitable wages are impediments to all; as one expert said on a recent Federal Reserve webinar, ‘There is no recovery of the economy without child care.’" These themes were on display at a recent Senate hearing, “Child Care and Preschool: Cutting Costs for Working Families.” The National Council of Nonprofits submitted material identifying how lack of child care is contributing to the significant nonprofit workforce shortages, while also pointing out that charitable organizations serve their communities as child care providers. The YWCA USA submitted a statement strongly urging “Congress to immediately implement robust funding that would expand access to high quality care that is dependable, accessible, and reduce costs for families.” Within the past week, more than two dozen Senators and 70-plus House members, all Democrats, signed on to a letter to President Biden calling on him to push a budget reconciliation bill “that lowers the cost of child care for families, expands access to pre-K, and invests in the early childhood workforce and infrastructure.”