Quality Affordable Childcare: No Mother Should Have To Leave Her Job To Take Care Of Her Child
The Problem
As more and more women serve as their family’s primary or co-breadwinner, it’s more important than ever to make quality daycare accessible so that women are empowered to stay in the workforce after having a child — and to pursue all possible opportunities for advancement. The current cost of child care is upwards of $6,700 a year, and for infants – it’s more than double that. Too many middle class families struggle to afford child care, which leaves too many working mothers with only one option: to leave her job and stay at home to care for her kids. That means less income for working families, more women leaving the workforce, and a weaker middle class.
The Solution
Congress needs to provide flexibility for different types of families to gain access to quality affordable child care. Under Senator Gillibrand’s proposal, families would have the option to deduct the cost of child care expenses as a business expense. Her plan also includes an expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit, allowing low income families with little to no tax liability, to have access to a fully refundable tax credit to help mitigate the cost of child care.The credit would also expand incentives for employers to provide their employees with quality child care.
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Opportunity Points
- Without a full-time parent care-taker, families with children under the age of 5 now spend an average of 10% of their household budget on child care. That rises to above 50% for low-income families.
- The average annual cost of infant care increased roughly 2% last year and ranged from about $4,600 in Mississippi to $15,000 in Massachusetts.
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