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Support Affordable Child Care And The American Families Plan

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Sponsor: The Literacy Site

Support The American Families Plan and help parents of young children afford the costs of child care when they need it most!


Research in the United States shows that children of low-income families are less likely to have formal child care. That amounts to millions of young children being left behind because of issues that are out of their control1.

In contrast, programs undertaken by other countries, have been shown to reduce the gap in kindergarten readiness. Yet in the United States, one in three American children start kindergarten without any preschool at all2.

In the U.S., formal child care costs about $1,000 to $6,000 a month, with no guaranteed spot. Moreover, the government will not cover expenses for parents who choose to stay home or find another arrangement3.

Currently, just .2% of the U.S. G.D.P. is spent on child care for children 2 and under. That usually comes in the form of a $200 tax credit for a single family each year. The child and dependent care tax credit pays out more to families that make more, from $124 for the lowest earners up to $5864.

Other comparable countries spend on average of 0.7% of their G.D.P. on children under 2. The average 2-year-old in Denmark is guaranteed a spot in daycare until they are 10 years old, for which their parents are given a 75% discount. The Danish government puts $23,140 annually per child toward care for children 2 and under, and supports parents who choose to stay home or hire a nanny, as well5.

The American Families Plan will ensure low and middle-income families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care for children under 5 years old, saving the average family $14,800 per year on child care expenses, while also generating lifetime benefits for three million children, supporting hundreds of thousands of child care providers and workers, allowing roughly one million parents, primarily mothers, to enter the labor force, and significantly bolstering inclusive and equitable economic growth6.

The American Families Plan could make it much easier for millions of working families to afford care for the children who will some day lead this country. Sign the petition and show your support for this important piece of legislation and American families.

More on this issue:

  1. Sarah Flood, Joel F. S. McMurry, Aaron Sojourner & Matthew J. Wiswall, National Bureau of Economic Research (September 2021), "Inequality in Early Care Experienced by U.S. Children."
  2. Elizabeth U. Cascio & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, National Bureau of Economic Research (December 2013), "The Impacts of Expanding Access to High-Quality Preschool Education."
  3. Megan Cerullo, CBS News (30 September 2021), "With child care unaffordable, many parents struggle to stay employed."
  4. Peter G. Peterson Foundation (1 October 2020), "How Much Government Spending Goes to Children?"
  5. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2021), "Indicator B2. How do early childhood education systems differ around the world?"
  6. Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times (6 October 2021), "How Other Nations Pay for Child Care. The U.S. Is an Outlier."
  7. The White House (28 April 2021), "FACT SHEET: The American Families Plan."
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The Petition:

To the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate,

When it comes to paying for child care, the United States is falling far behind its international neighbors.

The average 2-year-old in Denmark is guaranteed a spot in daycare until they are 10 years old, for which their parents are given a 75% discount. The Danish government puts $23,140 annually per child toward care for children 2 and under, and supports parents who choose to stay home or hire a nanny, as well.

In the U.S., formal child care costs parents $1,000 to $6,000 a month, with no guaranteed spot. Moreover, the government will not cover expenses for parents who choose to stay home or find another arrangement. Only the poorest working parents of children under 3 qualify for Early Head Start or the child care block grant assistance in the U.S., but less than 17% of eligible children ever receive the help.

This is unacceptable. We must increase support for our future leaders, not make life harder for them.

American parents deserve more help, which is why I support the passage of The American Families Plan, which will cover all child care expenses for struggling families, and ensure low and middle-income families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care for children under 5 years-old.

All Americans benefit when children's priorities are put first. Please make The American Families Plan a federal law today.

Sincerely,

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Signatures: