Sen. Tim Kaine joined a group of senators pressing President Biden and congressional leaders to include a $450 billion investment in childcare and universal pre-K in the Build Back Better bill, as negotiations continue.
“Our economy will not work, nor will it return to normal, if families do not have safe, affordable, high-quality childcare options,” the senators wrote in a letter to Biden and congressional leaders. “And while we are very supportive of the Child Tax Credit and universal, paid leave as complementary proposals, investing in childcare and universal pre-k is essential to help working families, and particularly women, return to work.”
“An investment of this scale would enable us to make significant progress towards addressing the workforce challenges of the childcare and early education sector, which are currently marked by low-wages and high-turnover,” the senators continued.
The senators cited Federal Reserve research showing that early in the pandemic, mothers and fathers left the work force in equal numbers. Today, while most fathers have returned to work, mothers have not regained the lost ground. In fact, the September jobs report showed that men gained 220,000 jobs while women lost 26,000.
They also pointed out that while employers struggle to find workers, federal data shows that lack of child care is a key factor preventing employees from returning to work.
The letter was also signed by Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
You can read the full letter here.
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