Working parents don’t have it easy, often caught between the demands of their family and the demands of their employer. If child care centers lose federal funding this month, their lives are about to get even harder.
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act provided $24 billion in funding to child care centers in 2021, helping an estimated 80% of centers pay their workers and keep their doors open through the pandemic. However, that money is set to run out on September 30, potentially forcing over three million children to leave their care programs and costing families $9 billion in lost earnings, according to the national think tank Century Foundation.
