Child care is a critical part of the U.S. economy. Safe, high-quality and reliable child care makes it possible for parents to go to work, participate in job training and education, and also makes it possible for parents to look for work and attend interviews.

In addition to supporting the employment of millions of parents every day, child care is a significant employer. More than two million people make up the child care workforce and the industry contributes significant revenue for the economy.


Child Care and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

Child Care and the Economic Downturn

The Economic Impact of Child Care

Child Care and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) invests dollars in the infrastructure of this country, and was an effort to create jobs. Understanding that workers with young children need reliable child care, Congress included $2 billion for child care assistance to low-income families, which is helping to provide child care services for hundreds of thousands of children while their parents go to work.

The funds included in ARRA are now being put to use by the states in a variety of ways to support accees to child care, as well as efforts to maintain and increase the quality of care.
 
The ARRA Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) dollars came with an important provision to "supplement not supplant" state dollars for child care. That is, states had to maintain current levels of funding for child care in order to get the new federal dollars. They couldn't make a state cut and use the ARRA funds to backfill. This provision made a huge difference during state budget work in 2009. Deep cuts were made in almost every category but child care money was largely maintained. This was not a "silver bullet" and the needs are still great in the states, but ARRA has been a good and important step.

Resources: 
ECEC's letter to Congress about the importance of child care to the U.S. economy

ECEC's letter to the U.S. Senate in support of the investment in the child care in ARRA

Child Care and the Economy
ECEC's "Policy Matters" column in Exchange Magazine March/April 2009

State Budgets and Federal Stimulus
ECEC's "Policy Matters" column in Exchange Magazine July/August 2009

Making Use of Economic Recovery Funds: Child Care Policy Options for States
Center for Law and Social Policy and National Women's Law Center

Allocations and Guidance for CCDBG ARRA Funds
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau

 
Parents, Child Care and the Economic Downturn
Increased investments in early childhood programs are essential today to help the many families grappling with financial and other strains in the current economy. ECEC members operate nearly 9,000 child care and early learning centers in 48 states. They see first‐hand every day the difference they make in the lives of families, and the importance of the dollars invested in child care and early education.

"What we are seeing across the board is parents not being able to afford child care and so they are opting to leave children at home alone, or with ill equipped relatives or neighbors. Most parents realize they are leaving safe, school readiness environments and worry about the long-term impacts on their children but can't afford mortgages and child care or even food and child care." - ECEC Board Member

Stories from Child Care Providers

2009:  "The Economic Downturn: The View from America's Child Care Centers."

2010: "Congress: Support Proposed Increases for Child Care Funding"

What’s the view from your program? How has your program directly impacted from the economic crisis? Has enrollment changed? What are you hearing from parents? Tell us your story! 
 

In the News

Day-care centers struggle as jobless parents withdraw children. Chicago Tribune. July 26, 2010.

"A Mother's Catch-22" The Nation. May 25, 2010.

"Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers." New York Times. May 24, 2010.

"Child Care Helps America Work and Learn." Administration on Children and Families, Issue 2. March 2010.

"Child Care Helps America Work and Learn." Administration on Children and Families, Issue 1. January 2010.

"Day Care Takes Hit in Recession." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 9, 2009.

"As aid shrinks, more parents stuck for child care" USA Today. October 21, 2009.

"Los Angeles-area child-care centers feeling a pinch." Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2009.

Child Care Providers Want to Know How Long They Must Wait! Pennsylvania Child Care Association. August 28, 2009.

"Recession squeezes day care from both sides." MSBNC. March 27, 2009.

"How Centers are Managing the New Child Care Conundrum." ECEC Radio. January 22, 2009.

"More Parents Face a Child Care Crisis." Good Morning America. January 23, 2009.
 ECEC Board Member Jo Kirchner, CEO of Primrose Schools, is featured.

"Squeezed on All Sides, Parents Forgo Child Care." The Washington Post. December 21, 2008.  

"Where Are the New Jobs for Women?" The New York Times. December 9, 2008.

The Economic Impact of Child Care

Assessing the Economic Impact of Child Care During Recessionary Times
Mildred Warner, National Webinar, December 9, 2009

Child Care Multipliers: Stimulus for the States
Mildred Warner, Ph.D., 2009

Linking Economic Development and Child Care
Cornell University

Recession, Stimulus and the Child Care Sector: Understanding Economic Dynamics, Calculating Impact
By Mildred E. Warner, Ph.D., 2009