[ [link removed] ]Paid Family Leave
Urge members of Congress to co-sponsor the Child Care Is Essential Act
[ [link removed] ]take action
[ [link removed] ]Take Action

Dear Friend,

“My childcare center closed its doors and I’m heartbroken. Our childcare
provider has been part of our life for 7 years. We don’t know what we are
going to do. Finding a new childcare provider is no easy feat. The price
has to work, the location, the hours...there are too many unknowns now,
and I think, unfortunately, that the best thing to do for our family is to
scale work back until we can figure out if it is safe to send our children
to childcare during the pandemic.”

We are hearing from moms like Diana daily about the struggle with
childcare right now. Whether it’s juggling work and caregiving, closing
childcare programs, or risking family members (like grandparents) in the
middle of a pandemic to get much needed childcare relief...

It’s why we need Congress to act NOW to save childcare!

[ [link removed] ]*CLICK HERE to sign on to urge members of Congress to Child Care Is
Essential Act — a bill that invests in childcare to save programs and
support a healthy economic recovery for families.

Families across the country were already struggling to find and access
childcare before the pandemic, but things are about to get harder if we
don’t act soon. The size and scope of the impact of this public health
crisis on the childcare sector is profound and growing, with families with
young children, including infants and toddlers, struggling the most.
Without significant investments, we are on track to lose as much as half
of our childcare programs. [1] Many providers are already permanently
closing their programs, unable to sustain operations with lowered
enrollment. And recent data shows that the childcare industry has lost
326,000 workers since this last February — that’s 31% of all jobs across
the sector NATIONWIDE! [2]

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that there is help on the table right now - our members
of Congress just need to act!

The Child Care Is Essential Act will keep childcare providers open (both
family childcare and center-based care) by granting them access to a $50
billion Child Care Stabilization Fund to cover expenses like payroll and
rent, regardless of whether they are open or closed and the number of
children enrolled. Grants also provide much needed tuition and copayment
relief to families. [3]

More than ever I'm grateful for the loving care my child normally receives
while we work. Parenting and supporting our family already felt like a
juggling act, but now it just feels like balls are raining down from the
sky and we can’t keep up.

We have to do something. And as many childcare programs are forced to
close, availability for families across the country will become even more
limited, forcing parents to make impossible choices.

[ [link removed] ]Your voice is needed! Can you sign on to send a quick message to your
lawmakers right now and urge them to co-sponsor the Child Care is
Essential Act?

It’s more important than ever that we speak up. Too often, people think of
childcare as a “personal issue” - as in our own problem to solve. It’s
not. This crisis has shown more clearly than ever what we already knew,
that we cannot continue to expect families and providers to bear the
responsibility of childcare on their shoulders alone.

****We hope you’ll keep speaking up by also joining us for a rally this
Friday to #SaveChildCare! from 4:00 PM-5:00PM EDT! [ [link removed] ]RSVP here. The
National Women’s Law Center and MomsRising are hosting a rally at home
that will bring together families, childcare providers, and other folks
from across the country to share their stories, show support and
appreciation for caregiving, and call for greater investment in this
sector that means so much to our communities.

It’s time for Congress to take action on childcare and, together, we can
raise our voices to make sure they do!

-- Nina, Donna, Kristin, and the entire MomsRising/MamásConPoder Team

 

[1] "[ [link removed] ]Without Immediate Relief, More than Half of Licensed Child Care
will Close in the Next Week," National Association for the Education of
Young Children
[2] "[ [link removed] ]The coronavirus crisis has cut the child care sector," The Hill
[3] The Child Care is Essential Act, [ [link removed] ]S. 3874/[ [link removed] ]H.R. 7027

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