In most of this country infant care costs more than in-state college tuition, and in many states it runs past $15,000 a year. Families are not budgeting badly. They are being asked to pay a second rent, and when they cannot, someone leaves a job they wanted to keep, overwhelmingly a mother. The federal government's own standard says child care should cost no more than 7% of a family's income. Almost nobody pays that, and Congress has known for years without acting. Fund the 7% standard for working and middle-class families, and pay providers enough to keep the doors open, because the seats do not exist if the workers cannot afford the job.
In most of this country infant care costs more than in-state college tuition, and in many states it runs past $15,000 a year. Families are not budgeting badly. They are being asked to pay a second rent, and when they cannot, someone leaves a job they wanted to keep, overwhelmingly a mother. The federal government's own standard says child care should cost no more than 7% of a family's income. Almost nobody pays that, and Congress has known for years without acting. Fund the 7% standard for working and middle-class families, and pay providers enough to keep the doors open, because the seats do not exist if the workers cannot afford the job.
