President Elect Biden: Affordable Child Care Could Soon be a Reality

We’ve previously spoken about the child care crisis that the US finds itself in today and the ever rising costs that families face. Families can see on average 20% of their household income going on child care, and for many, that is simply too much to justify and thus they are shut out of the job market as they stay home to care for children.

For child care providers, we have fallen through the gaps of the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving no government support. We’ve tried our best to be there for families, specially of key workers, but with confusion and worry surrounding the virus, our enrollment rates have declined, and many providers simply haven’t survived.

We are lucky at Kids Konnect that most of our families have stayed with us in this period and we have been able to continue offering our services, and now with the drama subsiding over the recent presidential elections, there is finally a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for our industry and families.

Tackling the Child Care Emergency

Back in July, President Elect Biden announced an ambitious plan to tackle the “child care emergency” facing the United States. Now that he has been voted in, we can begin to realistically unpack what this means for us and start to take some steps to change life for the better under this new plan.

Biden’s plan looks fantastic. It focuses on several key areas: helping parents get back into work by making quality child care more affordable and more available, and helping the childcare providers themselves by investing in them to enable more training, smaller class sizes and developing curriculum.

Here is a breakdown of some of the standout takeaways from the Biden plan:

• Increased access to both traditional and non-traditional child care settings
• Improved quality of childcare providers
• Smaller class sizes
• Child Care Development Block Grant extended to cover children up to age 13
• Child care services at community colleges
• Child care facilities on Military bases
• Provide tax credits of up to $8000 for low to middle income families
• A 50% reimbursement for child care for families that make less than $125,000 a year
• Child Care for Working Families Act which means a family who makes below 1.5 times the median income in their state would pay no more than $45 a week on child care
• Universal free pre-kindergarten for all kids aged 3 and 4

What does Biden's Plan mean for Bay Area families?

Are you one of the many parents who’ve been held back from rejoining the workforce due to rising child care costs? Well this plan is great news for you. It means that come January, we will be one step closer to truly affordable child care and you can begin looking for a role.

At Kids Konnect, we are of course delighted about this plan and what it means for our families, and just hope that Biden manages to make it happen. We are welcoming new enrollments as parents rejoin the workforce. Biden’s plan will put around 3 million Americans into work in care and education jobs, but even more significantly it will give about 5 million more people jobs who will be able to go to work because of affordable child care. If you are one of the 5 million, good luck! And Kids Konnect is here for your Child Care needs.