FY 2018 Child Care Assistance Data Show Small Increases in Spending and Participation; Continued Decrease in Providers
Although all children should have access to affordable, high-quality child care, families across the country continue to struggle in affording the high costs while child care workers are paid poverty-level wages. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) (the primary federal funding source for child care subsidies) paired with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) spending and other state investments, provide child care assistance to working families with low incomes. These dollars, however, are only sufficient to support a fraction (1 in 6) of eligible children and families.
In a new factsheet released today, CLASP details child care assistance participation and spending based on the most recent, publicly released data. We find that in FY 2018:
*
Total
combined
spending
on
child
care
assistance—comprised
of
CCDBG
and
TANF-related
funds—totalled
$12.2
billion
(6
percent
increase ).
*
CCDBG
expenditures
for
FY
2018
totaled
$9.2
billion
(7
percent
increase ).
*
States
spent
$1.5
billion
in
federal
TANF
funds
directly
on
child
care
(6
percent
increase )
and
$1.4
billion
in
additional
TANF
Maintenance
of
Effort
or
MOE
(MOE
spending
that
exceeded
the
amount
reported
spent
on
CCDBG
MOE).
*
1.3
million
children
received
CCDBG-funded
child
care
(a
1
percent
increase ).
*
Only
258,248
providers
accepted
children
with
CCDBG
subsides,
an
all-time
low
(and
a
7
percent
decrease
from
2017).
FY 2018 brought the largest federal funding increase in CCDBG history—$2.4 billion. This analysis does not fully capture the impact of that investment since states have multiple years to spend the funds. The factsheet also does not capture the impact of COVID-19 on child care spending and participation. Yet we know the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities and gaps in the child care system leaving many providers and families in impossible situations.
Providers, workers, and families urgently need relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking beyond the pandemic, policymakers must ensure that child care is treated like the public good it is by making significant investments and using those resources to build a more equitable child care system.
read the FACTSHET [[link removed]]

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Suite 900
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