On November 15th the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, a $1 trillion upgrade to America’s crumbling roads, bridges, and other critical brick-and-mortar needs, was signed into law. The bill made good on a decades-long need to shore up a vital part of all local economies across America; the highways, byways, boulevards, and bridges we each depend on to safely reach our offices, classrooms, and marketplaces. While we may all take for granted the importance of a sturdy road in our daily lives, one thing is certain, we would miss it if it were gone.
While the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is something to celebrate, the potential strength of our local economies remains stuck in the mud. It is critical to local economies across the commonwealth and across the nation that historic investments in child care and early education are passed into law.
The U.S. Congress holds the power to pass an incredible $400 billion investment into America’s struggling child care and early education sector right now that is estimated to deliver nearly $2 billion to Kentucky to invest in its children! This presents Kentuckians with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide care and early learning opportunities to unprecedented numbers of Kentucky children and support their working moms and dads.
Increase Access to Affordable, High-Quality Child Care
This investment will limit child care costs for families to no more than 7% of income for families earning up to 250% of state median income. It enables states to expand child care access to about 20 million children across the U.S. Parents must be working, seeking work, in training, or taking care of a serious health issue in order to participate. This is a long-term program, with funding for six years.
Provide Universal Preschool for all 3- and 4-Year-Olds in a Mixed Delivery System
This investment will increase access to free high-quality preschool for more than 6 million children across the U.S. This is a long-term program, with funding for six years. Preschool services will be delivered using a mixed delivery model that includes private child care small businesses, Head Start, and already existing public preschools.
A mixed delivery model ensures that more 3- and 4-year-olds gain access to a high-quality preschool education and ensures that already existing child care and other early education centers remain economically viable. The use of a mixed delivery model is a win-win-win for providers, children, and local communities.
This investment supports the economy & the workforce
Child care small business owners and early education practitioners are the workforce behind the workforce. Parents require access to a safe and high-quality environment for their children to attend while parents are in class or at work. 13.6% of Kentucky families report job insecurity due to a lack of child care and Kentucky families at the end of 2020 indicated 46% have quit jobs, declined jobs, or greatly changed their jobs due to a lack of accessible child care and early education services.
Like a sturdy road or bridge, the workforce is dependent upon access to child care and early education centers in order to enter, remain in and fully contribute to the workforce. And unfortunately, like America’s roads and bridges, child care and early education have been insufficiently invested in for decades.
Lack of investment in child care and early education costs employers over $3 billion annually due to employee absenteeism and $57 billion in lost earnings, business productivity, and tax revenue across the United States. In Kentucky, this accounts for $573 million in lost earnings, business productivity, and tax revenue.
Congress holds the power to remove barriers for working moms and dads to contribute more to the workforce and for their children to receive a strong start in their education. A child’s participation in high-quality early learning programs can result in higher rates of proficiency in reading and mathematics by the third grade. And children who participate in high-quality preschool programs are 40% less likely to drop out of school and 50% less likely to be placed in special education.
Kentuckians must not let this once-in-a-generation investment in child care and early education be sidelined by our leaders in Washington.
We must invest in increased access to child care and early education, the workforce behind the workforce, to ensure that more families enter, remain in, and fully contribute to Kentucky’s economy.
With more jobs on the way to Kentucky on the heels of major announcements from corporations like Ford, Toyota, and Tyson, the time is now to grow child care and early education access for parents in the workforce and for their children who require a strong start in their education to remain economically competitive.
Otherwise, like those roads and bridges, we might miss those child care and early education centers when they are gone.
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