A number of the decisions Gov. Corbett made in his budget were unsettling, but among the more egregious is a 9.3 percent cut to child-care subsidies for the poor.

It will force struggling parents to choose between work and welfare, ultimately increasing the burden on taxpayers.

Without reliable child care, parents can’t be very reliable workers. Many will either quit or lose their jobs, joining the rolls of the unemployed, who depend more heavily on the state’s social-services network, paid for by taxpayers.

Some affected parents expressed their frustrations to Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano. “You want us to advance and get off welfare,” said Emily Edwards, a laid-off receptionist and single mother. “Then at the same time, you cut the very programs that help us advance. It’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. Ever.”

A 2009 report by Philadelphia-based Public Citizens for Children and Youth noted that parents trying to get off welfare are more likely to show up for work on time and have better attendance records if they have good child care. They also are more likely to build stable work histories and become economically independent, which is the goal of welfare-to-work programs.

When welfare-to-work geared up in the 1990s, no one thought it would be easy, so additions were made to child-care subsidies to help parents. That’s why Pennsylvania was spending $189.6 million on the program last year.

With the subsidies, the cost of child care for a family of four is between $520 a year, for those earning up to $18,350, and $5,200 a year, for those earning up to $52,523 a year.

Without the subsidies, child care can consume up to $18,750 of a Philadelphia family’s income, according to PCCY.

In Pennsylvania, child-care subsidies help 70,234 children, according to the Department of Public Welfare. But there are many more families who wish they were in the program. The wait in Philadelphia is 10 months.

Beyond helping adults get in and stay in the workforce, decent day care benefits children, too. They are more likely to succeed in school and less likely to get involved in self-destructive behavior.

People understand cuts have to be made. These are still tough economic times in the Rust Belt. But if the goal of budget cuts is to give Pennsylvania a government it can afford, then why do something that will increase the government-dependent population?

Somehow, the governor needs to restore the $17.6 million he cut from child-care subsidies.

The Philadelphia Inquirer – July 10, 2011 – Read article online