In 10 days, the U.S. will fall off a “child care cliff” — that’s the day pandemic-era funding for the industry runs out.
Why it matters: The funding amounted to a $24 billion Band-aid patched over an industry that’s long struggled. When the bandage comes off, the state of child care in the U.S. is likely to be even worse than it was before 2020.
We need paid maternity and paternity leave. A lot of the cost in childcare is going to pay a bunch of people minimum wage to take care of newborns. It’s not good for the new borns who still won’t get enough attention, it’s not good for the overworked caretakers, and it’s not good for their parents where half their paycheck is going to child care. The only people benefiting are the employers who can get even more labor out of employees who should be home taking care of their baby.