“ ‘Women are impacted no matter where you look,’ Catherine White, Director of Child Care and Early Learning at the National Women’s Law Center, told NBC. ‘You have families who have lost their jobs or lost their income, and they’re thinking about going back to work without money to pay for child care. And then on the other side you have child care providers who are facing rising costs, they’re serving fewer kids and having less revenue coming in. So they have to charge more, and parents can’t pay and providers can’t charge less.’

“A study by the National Women’s Law Center and the Center for Law and Social Policy found that it would take nearly $10 billion per month to keep the child care system afloat during the pandemic. Congress has already appropriated $3.5 billion for child care in the first CARES Act, but advocates are calling for more.

“ ‘$50 billion sounds big, but not in terms of when you’re thinking about the size of the workforce and the impacts. Child care providers employ millions of caregivers across the U.S. and supports tens of millions of families to go to work,’ said White.”

 

— “Child care providers struggle as need for services remain for many,” by Molly Roecker and Ali Vitali, NBC News, August 31, 2020