[ [link removed] ]Ayanna Pressley




Last week, Ayanna joined her colleagues in the House to finally pass the
Build Back Better Act (BBB). BBB would make transformative, responsive,
and sorely needed investments in our communities, and especially in our
care economy.

We asked our supporters who are parents, guardians, or caretakers to share
with us how investments in childcare, including daycare, pre-K, and better
wages for childcare workers, would help them and their families. Here’s
what we heard:

“Without universal childcare, I ended up quitting my full-time job after
a year postpartum because the cost was extremely high and the waitlists
extremely long. After I gave birth to child number 2, we thought about
childcare for my first child, but again, the expenses were outrageous
and we depended on relatives to watch the kids when they could. Where I
live, the average childcare expense per year for one child is over
$11,000. With 2 children, that's over $22,000/year. There is no way a
family like mine can afford that service. Universal childcare would help
so many families, especially families like mine, who live paycheck to
paycheck and have struggled to provide the best possible life for their
kids but are met with the hard life circumstances of a society that does
not care about families and [a] lack of federal programs of support,
with rising costs of living and stagnant wages. We need change now so
families — all families — can thrive.”
—Jennifer K.

“When we adopted our daughter, my husband and I debated him staying home
full time with her because childcare is almost equal to his salary.
Ultimately the cost of additional insurance and resumption of student
loan payments meant it made more sense for him to keep his job and us to
send our daughter to full time care during the week. We have good
salaries but because of where we live, the overall cost of living and
childcare are astronomical. Universal child care would ease the stress
of making ends meet for us each week, especially with our student loan
payments looming in the new year.”
—Kaitlyn F.

“As an early childcare educator and former Head Start teacher I know how
pre-K helps families. I watched children blossom and be prepared for
kindergarten. Far too many parents fall through the cracks — they don't
qualify for Head Start and can't afford the high cost of preschool. I
worked with intervention groups in kindergarten — children already
behind because they didn't have the math and literacy skills needed to
succeed in kindergarten. I worked in an inclusive 4th and 5th grade
special needs classroom filled with children who were behind. None of
them had attended preschool. If we want our children to succeed, we need
to give them the help they need.”
—Marianne F.

The Build Back Better Act would invest in universal childcare to ensure
that all children get the quality care and education they deserve, and
that families have the support they need.

[ [link removed] ]Will you
help us lift up these and more stories by adding your name to demand the
Senate vote on the Build Back Better Act NOW to get this bill to the
President’s desk and make these critical investments in our communities
and our care economy? Add your name here »

[ [link removed] ]Add your name

Ayanna and our movement won’t stop fighting to lift up your stories to
keep up the momentum until the Senate and President Biden advance the
Build Back Better Act.

Thank you for fighting alongside us,

The A-Team


 




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