Make Quality Child Care Affordable

Quality and affordable child care can be essential to the economic prospects for adult workers and for their children. Because low-wage families face unique challenges in accessing quality child care that is affordable, states can take several actions to promote this work support more effectively.    

What Can Policymakers Do?

• Subsidize child care for low-income working parents who need it. Without adequate funding, there are waiting lists that create a barrier to employment.  Subsidies (with increased cost-sharing by recipients as income rise) may be needed at incomes well above the federal poverty threshold to keep parents working and earning.
• Invest in Head Start and Early Head Start.  These enhanced programs produce strong results for children and are specifically targeted toward children in low-wage families.
• Use contracts to ensure quality and accessibility. Because low-wage families face unique child care challenges and needs, the use of contracts with child care providers can better serve these communities than the use of traditional child care vouchers.    
• Align pre-kindergarten with other child care options more effectively.  The opportunity to make state pre-kindergarten programs work for working families is often lost because the vast majority of state pre-kindergarten programs offer part-day services limited to the school year.  States can enhance these programs as a work support by better integration with community-based child care centers, family child care, Head Start and schools.