{"id":101940,"date":"2023-04-29T23:01:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T03:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/framinghamsource.com\/?p=101940"},"modified":"2023-04-30T07:48:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T11:48:24","slug":"sen-markey-congresswoman-katherine-clark-re-introduces-child-care-for-working-families-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/framinghamsource.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/29\/sen-markey-congresswoman-katherine-clark-re-introduces-child-care-for-working-families-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Markey & Congresswoman Katherine Clark Re-Introduces Child Care For Working Families Act"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In\u00a0full transparency, the following is a media release from Sen. Ed Markey, who was elected by voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve the state in Washington DC in the US Senate. He is a Democrat.<\/em> (SOURCE file photo of Congresswoman Clark)<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON DC – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Representative Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act<\/em>, comprehensive legislation to tackle the child care crisis and ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need. Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 33 additional cosponsors in the Senate. Representative Wild (PA-07) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 43 cosponsors in the House.<\/p>\n

Across the country, too many families cannot find\u2014or afford\u2014the high-quality child care they need so parents can go to work and children can thrive, and the worsening child care crisis is holding families, child care workers, businesses, and our entire economy back. Over the last three decades, the cost of child care has increased by\u00a0220%<\/a>, forcing families\u2014and mothers, in particular\u2014to make impossible choices, and more than\u00a0half<\/a>\u00a0of all families live in child care deserts. Meanwhile, child care workers are struggling to make ends meet on the poverty-level wages they are paid and child care providers are struggling to simply stay afloat. The crisis\u2014which was exacerbated by the pandemic\u2014is costing our economy dearly, to the tune of\u00a0$122 billion<\/a>\u00a0in economic losses each year.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act\u00a0<\/em>would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation\u2019s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care\u2014with many families paying nothing at all\u2014and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.<\/p>\n

\u201cTackling the child care crisis isn\u2019t just what families are counting on us to do\u2014it\u2019s a top economic imperative. I constantly hear from families making impossible tradeoffs to pay for child care, from parents\u2014and too often, moms\u2014forced to quit their jobs because they can\u2019t find openings near them, and from child care workers struggling to just make ends meet,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Murray.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve got to tackle this crisis head-on\u2014and that\u2019s exactly what the\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act\u00a0<\/em>will do. Our bill will transform child care in America\u2014ensuring families in every part of our country can find and afford the child care they need to go to work and child care workers are paid the higher wages they deserve. Families are counting on us to deliver on child care, and this is absolutely critical for our future and our economy\u2014let\u2019s pass the\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Congress saved the child care sector from collapse during the pandemic, our economy is still forcing too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Today, the need to overhaul our child care system is only growing, especially as our job market continues to grow at a record pace. Without investments in the care economy, these jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,\u201d\u00a0said Ranking Member Scott.\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act<\/em>\u00a0makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re facing a growing challenge in this country: too many parents are breaking the bank in order to make sure their kids are safe and taken care of. And at the same time, too many of the child care workers many American families rely on are making poverty wages,\u201d\u00a0said Leader Schumer.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s why today we are reintroducing the\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 a transformative bill that supports universal preschool, ensures working families have access to these crucial programs, and guarantees that child care workers get the pay they deserve. We cannot afford to shortchange our children, and Democrats are committed to big, bold solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth of the matter is that our child care and early education system in the United States is an international embarrassment,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.\u00a0\u201cToday in America, child care is so outrageously expensive that having children is a leading cause of poverty. That is unacceptable. In the richest country in the history of the world; no parent should have to choose between their kids, making rent, and putting food on the table; no educator should earn poverty level wages; and no working parent should be forced out of the workforce because they can\u2019t afford child care. Other countries around the world understand the importance of child care, of early education, and family leave. It is long past time for the United States to join them. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere I go in Pennsylvania, I meet families who are struggling to find reliable child care or affordable preschool and feel like they\u2019re on their own,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Casey.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act\u00a0<\/em>would help more families access quality, affordable child care and support the essential workers who care for our kids. It\u2019s long past time we take action to end our Nation\u2019s caregiving crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies in Hawaii and across the country deserve to have access to high-quality, affordable child care,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Hirono.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act<\/em>\u00a0will help address our nation\u2019s child care crisis by capping child care costs for working families, increasing access to pre-K, and helping to ensure child care workers are paid a living wage. Expanding access to quality, affordable early education has long been a top priority of mine and I am proud to join Senators Murray, Kaine, Casey, Smith, and our colleagues in reintroducing this legislation to lower costs for families, support child care workers, and help set children up for a lifetime of success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear about the child care crisis everywhere I go in Virginia,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Kaine.\u00a0\u201cParents in every community are being locked out of the workforce because they can\u2019t find affordable care for their kids, while critical workers who are passionate about child care are getting squeezed out of their field because of low wages. This issue is holding our families, workers, and economy back and it\u2019s time for Congress to do more to address it. I\u2019m proud to be fighting alongside Senator Murray for our legislation to help ensure that every family in America can get the child care they need. This bill will make child care more accessible and affordable, boost wages for child care workers, and put us on a path to universal pre-K.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChild care is essential for families,\u201d\u00a0said Representative DeLauro.\u00a0\u201cIt helps parents get to work. It helps our children with social and emotional learning. And it helps families thrive. I am thrilled to join my colleagues in introducing legislation to expand access to child care and to ensure families across the U.S. can afford the high-quality child care they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than 38,000 children in Pennsylvania are waitlisted, 1,600 classrooms have closed, and hundreds of child care positions remain unfilled. In the Lehigh Valley, over 1,500 children are waitlisted, and Carbon county is classified as a child care desert. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so proud to be here with my colleagues to mark the introduction of the\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0said Representative Wild.\u00a0\u201cChild care is unaffordable for many, or simply not available\u2014this bill will help open more care providers and lower costs for parents, capping costs at 7% of a family\u2019s income. Not only that, but it will raise wages for the people taking care of our kids and increase retention rates for quality care providers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Child Care for Working Families Act\u00a0<\/em>will:<\/p>\n