The child-care crisis is about to get worse
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
A record $24 billion in pandemic investments has been propping up the nation’s child-care industry. Now, as that money runs out, parents and day-care centers are bracing for disruptions — and the economy is bracing for the ripple effects.
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Even in the best of times, juggling work and child care can be a struggle. But as pandemic-era funding for child care dries up, an estimated 70,000 child-care centers are expected to close, leaving parents with even fewer — and less-affordable — options.
“A lot of the resilience and the strength that we've seen in the economy in the last few years has been because of the strong labor market – because people are going back to work, and especially women and mothers in particular are really returning to the workforce at record levels,” economic correspondent Abha Bhattarai explains. “So there is a very real fear that as childcare becomes more difficult to access, more expensive to access, those women may be pushed out of the workforce.”
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My mornings are hectic, typically. |
| 0:08.4 | Ashton Nelson is a working mother of four, which means her morning routine is a little |
| 0:14.5 | chaotic. |
| 0:15.5 | I make breakfast every morning for everyone so that way they have something hot and then |
| 0:22.0 | I usually get everybody else up about 6.30 or so. |
| 0:26.5 | We normally leave the house at about usually between 7 and 7.15 because I have three different |
| 0:35.1 | drop-off locations for my kiddos. |
| 0:39.2 | This might sound familiar to working parents. |
| 0:42.0 | And childcare is a crucial part of making it work, but it's complicated to manage, especially |
| 0:47.8 | if you have multiple kids, and it's expensive. |
| 0:51.2 | I think that that's a huge consideration of families because when you're talking $300 |
| 0:56.3 | a week, you know, $1,200 a month regardless of your income, that's a lot of money for |
| 1:03.4 | a lot of people. |
| 1:08.1 | As one expert put it, if you have young children, there's no way you can go to work without childcare. |
| 1:14.5 | That's Abba Bauderay. |
| 1:15.5 | She's an economics correspondent here at the post, and lately Abba has been spending a lot |
| 1:20.0 | of time talking to parents like Ashton. |
| 1:23.0 | This month, a $24 billion program to help fund childcare facilities is set to expire, |
| 1:28.9 | which means childcare might get even less affordable, or centers could close completely. |
| 1:34.8 | And Abba says the consequences could be far reaching, and not just for families with kids. |
| 1:40.4 | A lot of the resilience and the strength that we've seen in the economy in the last few |
| 1:44.0 | years has been because of the strong labor market, because people are going back to work, |
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