Candidates are talking about it. The media are talking about it. And, of course, we are (and have been!) talking about it!

Childcare now costs more than college. Yikes!

The struggles most parents in America have finding quality, affordable childcare for their little ones is getting a lot of attention these days from the candidates and from the media. MomsRising member Meredith Tweed even shared her experience with Time Magazine last week. When asked how she covers the cost of their $1,100/month childcare for her two children, along with their mortgage, healthcare, and additional costs of raising a child with autism, Meredith said, “We can’t afford to do all these things all at the same time.”

We shouldn’t have to choose between paying for basic necessities like housing, childcare, or healthcare, and yet too many of us are struggling to keep our heads above water. And while the attention on this issue is rising thanks to the election and due to parents and supporters like you speaking out, the investment in federal funding isn’t keeping up.

**Tell Congress to step up for kids and our economy! The U.S. Congress will be considering childcare funding when they return to Washington, D.C. in a few short weeks. Write your members of Congress TODAY and tell them to support a significant increase in funding for high-quality, affordable childcare for families like Meredith’s! 

High-quality early learning is essential to meet the needs of children and their families. It helps children get the solid start they need and their parents get and keep the jobs they need to support their families. This includes childcare workers who are caring for our children while also trying to afford childcare of their own. Childcare providers are some of the lowest paid workers in our country and have hourly wages that are 23 percent lower than similar workers in other occupations and rarely receive job-based benefits that support their health and well-being. This policy area is between a rock and a hard spot: parents can’t afford to pay any more and childcare workers need to be paid a living wage. It’s time for serious investments.

The good news is when we make these investments in high-quality early learning programs, the economic returns are HUGE — for every $1 invested in high-quality early learning there is a later return of $8! In fact, ensuring working parents have access to childcare could save employers approximately $4.4 billion each year. 

Making that investment starts now! Congress will be making final decisions when they return to Washington, D.C. after the election about how they plan to fund the federal budget, including the important Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which helps struggling families afford childcare. [5] CCDBG is one of the top funding sources making childcare more affordable for families AND is critical to strengthening the quality of care our littlest learners get.

** Can you write your members of Congress now and tell them to support significantly increasing funding for high-quality, affordable opportunities, like the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)! 

Investments in early learning must reflect what experts value as quality education in order to provide our children with not just well-funded early learning opportunities, but learning environments that will help them get a head start on growth towards the future. This means improvements like supporting social-emotional, honoring home culture and language, eliminating punitive and bias disciplinary practices, valuing the role of self-defined families in the lives of children, and ensuring a diverse, well-trained and fairly compensated workforce that reflect the children and families they serve.

Parents want to know that when they are at work their child is in a safe, healthy, happy environment learning and striving towards their fullest potential. This is important because, as the Time Magazine article points out, nearly two-thirds of mothers with children under age 6 work, and families with a working mom spend nearly twice as much on childcare as they did 30 years ago. High-quality, affordable early learning opportunities is an issue that millions of families are dealing with right now or have had to negotiate in the past….likely your family as well, which is why we need you to speak out and tell Congress to make these important investments by the end of the year.

**Don’t forget to write your members of Congress now and tell them to fund high-quality, affordable childcare opportunities for our children and families.

When you are done taking action make sure to spread the word on social media by posting the action link to Facebookand Twitter. The more people we get to speak out the better our chances are of Congress listening.

Together we can build a brighter future for all of our children!

P.S. Is your family struggling to pay for childcare? Are you a care provider who isn’t earning a livable wage? Help us show how important affordable, high-quality childcare is for families to elected leaders by sharing your child care experiences here.