I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5000 
To provide for child care services for families with infants or toddlers, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2014 
Ms. FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. BROWN 
of Florida, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 
CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. 
NADLER, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 
MEEKS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HONDA, 
Mr. COHEN, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
ENYART, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. MENG, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. 
BUSTOS, Ms. CHU, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. GRAY-
SON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. 
CASTOR of Florida, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. 
PINGREE of Maine, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. TONKO, Ms. BASS, Ms. HAHN, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 
Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 
Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. FUDGE, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ESTY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. KEATING, 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for child care services for families with infants 
or toddlers, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working Families 
Child Care Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Child care for infants and toddlers is often 
difficult to access or afford. Only about a third of 
child care centers serve infants. While 70 percent of 
centers serve toddlers, only a third of teachers re-
port that they care for children under age 3. About 
half of all requests to child care resource and refer-
ral agencies concern care for infants and toddlers. 
(2) Child care is second only to the family as 
the setting in which early development takes place 
for many infants and toddlers. Sixty-one percent of 
mothers with children younger than 3 years of age 
are in the labor force and over 6,000,000 children 
younger than 3 years of age are cared for by some-
one other than their parents for some part or all of 
the day. Therefore, the relationship between the 
child and the child care provider often plays a sig-
nificant role in child development. 
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(3) Dramatic brain development in a child’s 
first 3 years of life, shaped by the quality of early 
experiences and relationships with trusted adults, 
builds the foundational architecture for thinking, 
reasoning, language, emotion, and self-regulation. 
(4) Early adverse experiences, such as economic 
hardship, unstable housing, poor nutrition, abuse or 
neglect, or parental mental health or substance 
abuse problems, affect brain development, with ef-
fects on long-term productivity and health that can 
last a life-time. Children with such hardships early 
in life often experience high levels of chronic stress, 
which can alter the brain’s architecture and under-
mine developing biological systems. Almost half of 
all infants and toddlers live in low-income families, 
and 61 percent have at least one risk factor for poor 
health or developmental outcomes. 
(5) Teachers serving infants and toddlers re-
ceive wages that are 28 percent lower than those of 
teachers serving 3–5 year olds. Some difference re-
mains even when education is taken into account. 
The median hourly wage for a teacher with a BA de-
gree serving infants and toddlers is $11.30 com-
pared with $15.50 for teachers serving 3–5 year- 
olds. 
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(6) Low reimbursement rates to providers make 
it extremely challenging to offer high quality care to 
low-income children. In 2013, just three states set 
their reimbursement rates at the 75th percentile of 
current market rates. Many states set their rates 
substantially below the 75th percentile. 
(7) Research shows that high-quality child care 
can mitigate some of the effects of adverse experi-
ences, including poverty, and that low-income chil-
dren in particular can benefit from high-quality child 
care that provides nurturing, child-centered teachers 
and a safe, predictable environment. Yet, at-risk 
children younger than 3 years of age often receive 
low-quality child care that can lead to poor develop-
mental outcomes. 
(8) High-quality child care has been shown to 
promote positive cognitive, language, and social and 
emotional development, and contribute to academic 
success. Specifically, high-quality child care can also 
help improve a child’s communication skills, behav-
ioral skills, math and language assessment scores, 
and verbal intelligence. 
(9) Research has found strong connections be-
tween provider education and training levels and 
child care quality, including positive caregiving that 
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