Federally sponsored scholarships can be a lifeline for working parents who are unable to pay the high expense of child care. The scholarships, which are provided through state child care aid programs, can make the difference between a parent working full-time or not.
However, because of growing child care expenses and the depletion of pandemic-era funding, more and more eligible families are being turned away, and some families who received scholarships have seen them expire. There are lengthy waitlists for parents who apply in at least three states: Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. Other states, including as Nevada and Oklahoma, have announced plans to serve fewer children or have raised parent copayments. For a portion of last year, enrollment in Idaho was suspended.
Some workers who assisted states in implementing child care assistance were let off by the Trump administration last week. Advocates are now concerned about what will happen to federal child care programs.
Ruth Friedman, the former head of the Office of Child Care under former President Joe Biden, stated that it eventually means that child care would become less safe, more costly, and more difficult to locate.
Reduced financing for child care and layoffs of federal employees
The Office of Child Care, which manages federal child care subsidies and makes sure states are upholding safety regulations, lost employees as part of Trump’s massive budget cuts.
Along with additional personnel reductions at the office’s headquarters in Washington, all employees in five of the ten regional offices were let go. They included employees who made sure subsidies were being spent efficiently and enforced federal safety regulations for child care providers. They collaborated with states to impose mandates that child care workers undergo background checks. Additionally, they protected programs from fraud and waste.
Recognizing the value of the child care sector in reviving the economy, Congress authorized record spending to support it during the epidemic. In addition to an additional $15 billion for child care assistance scholarships, states were given $24 billion to help child care providers increase pay, purchase masks and air purifiers, and train employees.
In September, that money ran out. Despite pressure from Biden and proponents of child care, Congress refused to renew it. Some states have since tried using their own tax dollars to keep up their programs. However, unique pandemic-era initiatives, like those that assisted teachers in paying for child care, have been discontinued in many states, including Arizona. Parents in Arizona are currently placed on waitlists for basic child care assistance, with no end in sight.
“The need is far greater than the available resources,” stated Kim Kofron of the advocacy organization Children at Risk, which is based in Texas. “All of these families are willing to work, as we know.”
Janeth Ibarra, a child care provider in Phoenix, would have been eligible for a special scholarship for her line of work, so she would not have had to pay for the care of her twin boys last year. She is eligible for normal state child care aid this year due to her income. However, earlier this year, she was placed on a waitlist because the state’s funding for the program was running low.
After a significant discount from her employment, Ibarra, 22, currently makes $16.50 per hour and pays over $1,200 per month for child care.
Ibarra stated, “Even with overtime, it is barely survivable.” Ibarra had to use the last of her funds at the end of the previous year to buy special formula for one of her sons, which was not covered by her food aid benefits. To save money, she made an effort to nurse more.
The state of Idaho ceased to accept applicants for its child care assistance program after lawmakers denied pandemic help for child care in 2023. The state strengthened income requirements when the applications were reopened. Only households that make less than 130% of the federal poverty level, or $41,795 for a family of four, are now eligible. A family of four used to be able to earn up to $56,000 and still be eligible for a scholarship.
Due to financial constraints, twelve Colorado counties ceased to accept new applicants for the state’s child care aid program, according to The Colorado Sun.
Trump suggests tariffs as a way to address child care.
Regarding his proposals to lower the cost of child care, Trump has been evasive. During his campaign, he declared his belief that tariffs will generate “trillions of dollars.” “Relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we will be taking in,” he continued, referring to child care.
However, economists have cautioned that if Trump is successful in enacting significant tax cuts, there may not be much money left over for the government to spend because tariffs might drive up the cost of other household items, making it difficult for families to make ends meet. Advocates fear that as the president looks to reduce the size of the federal government, money for child care may be reduced.
The expenses of operating the programs have increased for governments attempting to continue offering child care assistance scholarships. The Biden administration raised the amount that child care providers receive when they accept scholarship students because many of them are on the margins.
It’s all evidence the problems that vex the child care industry have not necessarily abated with the pandemic, said Karen Schulman, senior director of child care policy at the National Women’s Law Center.
Schulman stated, “The crisis was going on long before COVID,” referring to the low wages of the child care workforce and the fact that many families could not afford the care.
Making concessions in order to pay for child care
Many families find child care to be unaffordable, even as providers struggle to turn a profit. According to a Labor Department report on child care costs for 2022, the median cost of care for an infant at a center was over $15,600 in big counties, which is often more than the median rent.
Brooklyn Newman moved into a trailer with her two boys, who are now two and four, while she recovered from her husband’s divorce. In order to provide her older son structure as the family dealt with the breakup, the Phoenix mother was keen to enroll him in preschool. However, until the preschool offered her a scholarship financed by economic help, she was unable to pay for her younger son’s tuition.
Newman could work longer hours at her job as a freelance business analyst since both boys were enrolled in half-time classes. She had to pay out of pocket after the scholarship ended, which increased her preschool fees by $1,000 per month. She made the tough decision to work in the evenings while keeping an eye on her kids at home, giving up precious time with them in order to make enough money to keep them in preschool.
Earlier this year, Brooklyn said, her voice tensing with emotion, “I am always behind a computer, you know, giving everything I can.” Sometimes, in order to prevent her from working, her boys will conceal her computer mouse.
However, she can observe improvements from their preschool years in their language, self-assurance, and interactions with classmates and teachers. “You are seeing them develop. It is simply the most amazing sensation. I make every effort to have them there because of this.
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