As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03) in reintroducing the bicameral Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need. 

Senators Kim, Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 39 additional cosponsors in the Senate—the most in the bill’s history.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 80 additional cosponsors in the House.

“Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.” 

“Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,”said Senator Patty Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.” 

“Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.” 

The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation would: 

• Make child care affordable for working families. 
  • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care. 
  • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care. 
  • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care. 
  • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies. 

• Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by: 
  • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities. 
  • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers. 
  • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours. 
  • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 

• Support higher wages for child care workers. 
  • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
  • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care. 

• Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K. 
  • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds. 
  • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities. 
  • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can directly provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies. 

The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—typically costing around $19,600 annually for infant child care in New Jersey. The average cost nationally of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent. Additionally, child care providers in New Jersey on average make just around $31,000 a year which makes recruitment and retention of the workforce difficult and worsens the shortage of care. The crisis costs New Jersey’s economy $3.6 billion each year and the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care. 

A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE.

Text of the legislation if available HERE. 

“As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care,” said Child Care Aware of America.    

“For far too long, children, families, and providers have borne the burden of a broken child care sector. The Child Care for Working Families Act would make access to child care more equitable and affordable for families across the country while also better valuing and compensating the child care workforce. Families need relief from untenable child care prices. Children need reliable education and care settings. Providers need increased education supports, consistent employment, and higher wages. This bill will deliver necessary improvements to America’s child care sector,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). 

“Recognizing  and supporting child care as a true public good simply requires the political will from our elected leaders because the political will from families across the country is already there. Americans agree we should have equal opportunities to engage in the workforce regardless of gender and parental status and making that a reality shouldn’t break the bank for families. I want to thank Senator Murray, Rep. Scott and the child care champions leading the way on the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill builds on the excellent foundation of its previous iterations, incorporates lessons from the pandemic, ARPA, and the experience of nearly achieving historic child care and early learning policy during the Build Back Better debate. Children, families, and America’s economic growth cannot wait,” said TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice Julie Kashen. 

“Making child care more affordable isn’t just good for families—it’s essential for a thriving economy, strong businesses, and vibrant communities,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund.“Instead of working to pass legislation that will increase costs for families while giving tax breaks to billionaires, Congress should pass the Child Care for Working Families Act. This bill would lower costs for families, raise wages for early educators, and tackle the child care crisis head on.” 

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