It's a crisis that touches children from their first years forward. It is a serious issue for child development. Today, three out of five mothers with children under age six are employed outside the home. 45 percent of children under age one are in child care on a regular basis. Nine out of 10 children eligible for child care assistance aren't getting it.
Poor families have to spend a quarter of their income on child care.
And more than 5 million school-age children spend time as latchkey children in a typical week. What child care in America needs is a booster shot. The President's child care plan would answer parents' top three concerns. It will help parents find child care by creating more care-particularly after school care during those hours when parents are working and trouble is lurking. It will help parents afford child care by doubling the number of children receiving child care subsidies-and by increasing tax credits for three million working families.