Tim Kaine, Bobby Scott introduce bill to ease America’s child care crisis

The Child Care for Working Families Act would ensure families across America can find and afford high-quality child care while they work to provide for their families.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia, Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, joined Sen. Patty Murray of Washington in introducing the comprehensive legislation on Wednesday.

The average cost of child care is now $13,128, a 29 percent increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on by ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilize the child care sector and help ensure child care workers taking care of the nation’s children are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.

“The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses and economy back. I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages,” Kaine said.

“Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy,” Kaine said.

According to Scott, the American economy forces many workers to choose between their jobs or caring for their children.

“Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential. Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth,” Scott said.

In 49 states, including Virginia and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent. And in 41 states, including Virginia and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion each year.

The crisis could worsen as the Trump administration has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding and created massive holes in states’ budgets with the GOP partisan megabill’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The cuts could force states to pare back on their own investments in child care.

The Child Care for Working Families Act would:

• Make child care affordable for working families.
• The typical family earning the state median income will pay about $10 a day for child care.
• No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
• Families earning below 85 percent of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
• If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.

Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:

• Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
• Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
• Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
• Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
• Support higher wages for child care workers.
• Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
• Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
• Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
• States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
• States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-
• If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
• Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.