El Diario - Child Care Isn't a Luxury, It's a Necessity

Op-Ed

By Joe Crowley

When child care costs exceed rent, mortgage payments, and college tuition, affording care isn't just a struggle for New York families, it's nearly impossible. As child care costs continue to skyrocket, hard-working parents are forced to choose child care based only on what they can or cannot afford, not what might be best for their children.

This must change.

As a father, I know how hard it can be to find, not to mention pay for, good, quality child care. We parents have enough to worry about when it comes to our kids -- keeping them healthy, getting them to eat their vegetables, even fighting monsters under the bed. Paying for child care shouldn't add one more worry.

But that's the reality for far too many people in my district in Queens and the Bronx, and across the country. In New York, a family can expect to pay over 10% of their income on child care -- surpassing the costs of housing, transportation and food. The cost of one year of care in a center for an infant is nearly double the cost of one year of tuition at a public college, and a family of 4 could end up paying over $25,000 a year for child care.

It's not just New Yorkers facing these exorbitant costs. In every state across the country, child care costs are higher than the cost of rent.

For many families, the only way to come close to affording child care is through federal assistance. These subsidies can make a big difference for a family struggling to afford child care, but right now, this funding just can't be stretched far enough, leaving many families and children behind.

I recently introduced new legislation to expand access to quality child care in our country. My Child CARE Act provides a much-needed funding increase to ensure that more families are able to access child care, that it's high-quality care, and that our child care workforce is strengthened and paid well.

This funding is an investment in the families that are striving to lift themselves up, in the child care providers that deserve a wage that reflects the critical work they do, and in children that will get the high-quality care they deserve.

Child care isn't a luxury; it's a necessity for millions of working families. Congress has a responsibility to do more, and expanding access to affordable, quality care through my Child CARE Act is a good first step. Working together, we can put child care back in reach for more New York families.

U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley represents the 14th Congressional District of New York.

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