The current state of childcare in America is not sustainable. By joining together now, we can get Senator Bernie Sanders, Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, to do the right thing and call a vote on legislation - the Child Care for Every Community Act (S.388) and the Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act of 2023 (S.268) - that would increase the money for both childcare and childcare providers. Instead of high costs for families and low pay for childcare professionals, we can have a system that values our freedom to care for our families in the ways they need most.

The facts are clear.

The cost of childcare is a burden for American families:

• Median childcare costs for a single child were as high as $15,417 a year in 2018. That’s equal to $17,171 in today’s dollars– up to 19.3% of a household’s income.

•  29% of families with children under age 6 have two or more children that need paid care. In 2023, a family with an infant and a toddler in a mid-size county might expect to pay upwards of $21,000 for their childcare needs.

Early childhood educators are significantly underpaid:

• In 40 states, median childcare worker wages are less than the living wage in that state.

• In 2021, the median wage for childcare workers was $13.22 per hour, when the overall median wage in the United States was $22 per hour.

The American workforce is weaker when childcare is unaffordable:

• Counties with higher childcare costs have lower rates of maternal employment, even in higher-wage areas.

• Reduced workforce due to childcare costs leaves the U.S. vulnerable to increased labor shortages and less competitive in the global market.

*Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, published January 2023

Our American families, workers, and communities cannot wait. Join us at Campaign for Childcare today to tell Senator Sanders – now is the time to vote the Child Care for Every Community Act (S.388) and the Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act of 2023 (S.268) out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which he chairs. With these successful votes, we will take a meaningful step toward a world in which high quality childcare is truly universal– where children, families, childcare workers, and communities thrive.  

Fact sheets and additional data (for our use):

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/NDCP/Fact-sheet-English-508-compliant.pdf

Early Childhood Workforce Index 2020

National Database of Childcare Prices | U.S. Department of Labor

https://blog.dol.gov/2023/01/24/new-childcare-data-shows-prices-are-untenable-for-families?_ga=2.141871154.1266922111.1678714148-389909365.1678714148