Dear John,

As a mom, I am always thinking about my daughter. Yet after I drop her off at child care, I can fully focus on my job knowing she is having a day full of playing and learning with early educators who care for her. I count myself as one of the lucky since right now I still have access to child care and the ability to keep doing the work I love so much. I shouldn’t have to worry about choosing between child care or my job. But the future is unknown—day by day, hour by hour, mothers and families are struggling with the new reality of accessing child care.

It’s been just over two weeks since Congress let child care funding run out, leaving parents across the country scrambling. As a mother and a child care advocate, I want to highlight the important stories of early educators, child care programs, and mothers:

• Child care programs will continue to close without funding:
  • “A child care apocalypse.” That’s what one child care center owner in Maine calls her current situation.
  • 42 child care providers have already closed in Wisconsin.
  • A Pennsylvania child care center that used to employ 33 care workers was down to three before it closed entirely.

  The pandemic-era child care stabilization funding allowed providers to stay afloat despite rising operational costs. But now, with no supplemental funding and continued high costs, child care programs across the country are on the brink of closure or have already closed. Child care is essential to our economy—giving parents support to return to work and children a safe place to grow and learn. But without additional federal investment, doors will continue to close and families, especially those who have already been struggling to afford or access care, will have no options for their children.

• Child care workers, already underpaid, are taking pay cuts and losing their jobs:
  • A West Virginia center has been forced to cut pay, slow down payroll processing, and discontinue paid sick leave for part-time staff, with a plan to extend this policy to full-time employees soon.
  • Cynthia Davis, owner of a home-based child care program in Washington, D.C., cannot afford even to pay herself a minimum wage.
  • Janna Rodriguez, an early educator in Long Island, New York, went without a salary for eight months to cover her operating expenses.
  • Kelly Dawn Jones in Indiana had to lay off two longtime staff, dip into her personal savings, and still might have to close her program.

  Child care workers, already underpaid, are the backbone of our economy—and without federal funding are having to take pay cuts and may lose their jobs. This is an unsustainable system where the burden is placed on those doing the work, who are disproportionately women of color and immigrant women.

• Moms are leaving the workforce:
  • Crystal Springs, a mother in New York, quit her job because of the overwhelming cost of child care consuming a large portion of her paycheck.
  • A mother from Maine made the difficult choice of not returning to her job as a teacher because of child care expenses that would have amounted to $29,000 a year for her two children.

  Parents are already spending nearly $11,000 on average per year on child care for one child, and in 33 states it is more expensive than a year of in-state college tuition. The responsibility of caregiving disproportionately falls on mothers, compelling them to make a heartbreaking decision to leave the workforce. Our economy thrives best when mothers are active members of the workforce—and lack of child care should not be a factor holding them back.

This is only a snapshot of the consequences of Congress allowing child care funding to expire. Mark my words, in the coming weeks, the magnitude of these stories will continue to grow—in your communities, within your friends, maybe even for you—and without funding, there may never be a path to recovery. If these stories impacted you in any way, I urge you to contact your representatives to prioritize child care before it is too late!

In solidarity,

Karla Coleman-Castillo
she/her/ella
Senior Policy Analyst, Child Care
National Women's Law Center