Dear John,
Last night, President Biden presented a vision for building a nation
where all children can thrive, from crucial interventions to provide
children and youth with high-quality early learning experiences to
economic and community interventions that create conditions for young
people to grow up with dignity, hope, and joy.
President Biden echoed the urgency for access to high-quality child
care that our CDF Freedom Schools® families regularly share.
CDF's State of America's Children 2023 revealed that more
than half of families live in areas without an adequate supply of
child care and that child care costs single parents more than
one-third of their salaries. Yet childcare providers earn less than
half of a living wage in all 50 states and D.C. These data demonstrate
the severity of the childcare crisis in families, not just by
obstructing parents' ability to work but also by denying young
children high-quality experiences that contribute to a fulfilled and
joyful childhood. That orientation extends to the president's
call for universal pre-K education.
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Child care and educational experiences are most effective when shared
in the context of economically stable families. Family stability
results from a just economy that provides for affordable
housing-the current lack thereof has a massive racial disparity,
with three in four children experiencing houselessness being Black or
Brown. The president reminded Congress that they can advance
economic justice almost immediately through an expanded Child Tax
Credit (CTC). The impact of the pandemic-era CTC is indisputable: It
cut child poverty in half and helped sustain millions of families
through one of our nation's most challenging episodes. This
crucial support for families should never have expired, and the Senate
is positioned to roll back that error in part with the passage of the
current tax package.
And yet, even with those provisions in place, it's difficult for
children to live joyfully while also living with the persistent threat
of gun violence. The regular cadence of gun violence and mass
shootings, so common that only the most egregious events make
headlines, denies children any safe haven-not their
neighborhoods, not their schools, not their places of worship. Gun
violence ends the lives of 5 in every 100,000 children, with Black
children suffering this violence at a rate six times greater than
their White peers. President Biden's renewed call for a
ban on assault weapons restores a movement for the safe environments
young people deserve.
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Children's Defense Fund stands ready to work with the Biden
administration and our allies in Congress to advance this vision of
communities wielding the power to ensure all young people
thrive.
With gratitude,
Children's Defense Fund
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