| Here Are the Facts about Child Care
Because a YouTuber posted on social media that he wasn’t allowed in secure child care centers in Minnesota, he claimed fraud. The President reacted to the post and – without any evidence – ordered an immediate freeze of $10 billion in funding that makes child care affordable for low-income working families.
To be sure, fraud is wrong and there is no excuse to permit fraud to go unaddressed. That’s why Congress gives federal agencies vast sums for legal and financial compliance systems that routinely focus on and successfully recoup funds proven to be spent illegally.
Given the nation’s rocky economy and the highest unemployment rate in four years, making child care less available is reckless. But that’s exactly what will happen because of the President’s sweeping order to freeze federal child care funds in five states that account for a booming 30% of the nation’s GDP, and, incidentally, all have Democratic governors.*
In 2024 alone, more than one million US households had to cut their work hours because of child care problems, resulting in 590 million lost work hours and an estimated $13 BILLION in lost wages. Now working families will have a hard time going to work. For parents who can pay out-of-pocket for child care, it will be at the expense of groceries, mortgage or rent payment, or heat and other basics. Business owners also feel the loss with fewer staff, filling holes in the schedule, employee burnout, and lower profits, which puts a drain on the economy.
Everyone already feels the domino effect of the child care crisis – not just families – because no one is immune to the problem. For example, health care and social assistance workers had the highest missed work hours because of child care unavailability – 83 million lost work hours. So, the next time you’re standing in a long line at the pharmacy or your elderly mom’s home health aide calls out or your kid’s social worker is running late, you are feeling the aftershock of child care unavailability.
Pennsylvania families are currently spared from the immediate impact of Trump’s edict because of the way PA funds child care. That does not mean we can rest easy.
If last year’s federal funding shenanigans are any indication, this freeze could just be the tip of the iceberg. Remember when Trump arbitrarily stopped Head Start funding last year, creating chaos for parents and providers? Sure, advocates like you fought back and the funding was restored, but, in the interim, damage was done to families and our child care infrastructure. There’s always the possibility this week’s action could lead to wider cuts nationwide.
Child care must never be a political hostage. We stand behind any child care center that refuses to open their door to a stranger demanding access to shoot video of their operation. The President’s irresponsible embrace of this type of vigilante journalism to “document fraud” puts defenseless young children, and those who care for them, at grave risk.
* Minnesota, New York, Illinois, California, and Colorado |
