Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all young children and families should have access to high-quality, affordable childcare and early education.
Policy area: Families

Summary:
This resolution expresses support for legislation to

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1036 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1036

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all young 
 children and families should have access to high-quality, affordable 
                     childcare and early education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 2022

Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Speier, Mr. 
   Ruppersberger, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bowman, Ms. 
Williams of Georgia, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. McBath, 
   Mr. Moulton, Mr. Jones, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Adams, Mr. 
Cardenas, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Newman, 
 and Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida) submitted the following resolution; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all young 
 children and families should have access to high-quality, affordable 
                     childcare and early education.

Whereas today's working parents depend on high-quality childcare so they can 
        work and support their families;
Whereas approximately 15,700,000 children under five are in a regular childcare 
        arrangement;
Whereas even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States economy lost 
        $57,000,000,000,000 annually in unrealized earnings, productivity, and 
        revenue because of the childcare crisis;
Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that no more than 
        7 percent of household income go toward childcare payments; however, 
        middle-income families spend as much as 14 percent on childcare and low-
        income families spend approximately 35 percent of their income on 
        childcare;
Whereas childcare is difficult to find for millions of families, when only 8 
        percent of childcare centers can provide evening, overnight, or weekend 
        care, and approximately 58 percent of low-income children younger than 6 
        years old whose parents work nontraditional hours;
Whereas the need for care can dramatically exceed the supply in areas designated 
        as childcare deserts;
Whereas more than 50 percent of American families live in childcare deserts, 
        including every county in Oregon which is a childcare desert for infant 
        and toddler care;
Whereas, between 2010 and 2020, the cost of childcare increased by 25 percent;
Whereas families of color face income gaps that make high-quality childcare even 
        less affordable for the parents and guardians of Black, Indigenous, and 
        other children of color;
Whereas high-quality childcare and early education, especially for disadvantaged 
        children, such as Head Start and Early Head Start, help children thrive 
        in school and beyond;
Whereas high-quality childcare improves children's early learning, cognitive and 
        language development, and social and emotional development during the 
        earliest years of foundational brain development;
Whereas the eligibility requirements to receive assistance under the Child Care 
        and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBG), the primary source of 
        Federal funding support, exclude most American children from Federal 
        childcare assistance;
Whereas CCDBG serves only a fraction of families, with just one in nine eligible 
        children under age six receiving Federal childcare assistance;
Whereas these issues affect all families, but disproportionately affect women, 
        many of whom are unable to enter the workforce due to the lack of 
        affordable, high-quality childcare for their children;
Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average hourly wage of 
        childcare workers is $12.24;
Whereas the vast majority of the childcare workforce is comprised of women, 
        overwhelmingly women of color;
Whereas Black childcare providers earn an average of 78 cents less per hour than 
        their White counterparts;
Whereas increased pay for workers in the childcare and early education sectors 
        improves the quality and continuity of care for young children, helps 
        centers hire new staff and improve conditions for children, and reflects 
        the value of caregivers' highly skilled work;
Whereas a survey from the National Association for the Education of Young 
        Children found 4 in 5 childcare centers are understaffed;
Whereas to recruit and retain a qualified childcare workforce for young 
        children, childcare and preschool workers with equivalent education and 
        experience should be paid as much as K-12 staff;
Whereas a full-time living wage is needed for all childcare workers to meet 
        their families' essential needs, yet nearly half of childcare workers 
        currently receive Federal income assistance to support their families' 
        well-being;
Whereas the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and 
        Human Services found that in 96 percent of unannounced site visits in 9 
        States and 1 territory, there were 1 or more instances of potentially 
        hazardous conditions and noncompliance with critical health and safety 
        requirements;
Whereas the National Children's Facilities Network estimates that at least 
        $23,000,000,000 is needed to bring existing facilities up to best 
        practice standards;
Whereas expansion and renovation of facilities will improve child health and 
        expand opportunities for employment in the care economy, but there is no 
        dedicated Federal program to invest in upgrading care facilities;
Whereas high-quality childcare that works for everyone is essential for a strong 
        economy and future, and working families also need universal preschool;
Whereas areas with new universal preschool programs have shown dramatic 
        increases, as high as ten percent, in maternal labor force 
        participation;
Whereas universal preschool programs for three- and four-year-olds provide a 
        particularly important opportunity for fostering racial and 
        socioeconomic diversity because they allow students of all backgrounds 
        to enroll for free;
Whereas for every $1 invested in universal preschool, $9 in benefits, including 
        better child health and increased earnings, is returned to the economy;
Whereas when families are guaranteed high-quality, flexible, available, and 
        affordable childcare and early childhood education, business 
        productivity improves, parents have a greater likelihood of finding and 
        keeping employment, and children do better in school and in life;
Whereas fixing the childcare system is also an issue of racial justice;
Whereas making sure families of color have access to high-quality, affordable 
        childcare and preschool will help dismantle the systemic underinvestment 
        in families and workers of color;
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing problems in childcare and 
        created new challenges, including providing safe emergency care while 
        providers are struggling with significant reductions in revenue;
Whereas, according to a 2022 study conducted by Child Care Aware of America, 
        16,000 childcare providers permanently closed between December 2019 and 
        March 2021; and
Whereas an analysis by the Center for American Progress estimated that, without 
        adequate public support, 4,500,000 childcare slots could be lost 
        permanently: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives should pass robust 
childcare legislation that will stabilize the childcare industry and 
that will--
            (1) provide childcare assistance to all families that need 
        it, especially low- and middle-income families who struggle to 
        afford the cost of high-quality childcare and who are too often 
        left behind;
            (2) make childcare affordable, with no family having to pay 
        more than 7 percent of their income for childcare, and families 
        most in need paying nothing;
            (3) make sure that childcare is available so that parents 
        in today's 24-hour economy can access high-quality care when 
        and where they need it, during weekends, nights, and as their 
        job schedules change, with options in a mixed-delivery system 
        across school, center, and home settings;
            (4) guarantee that all families eligible for childcare will 
        receive it, by investing in the expansion of childcare supply 
        and creating a system that is appropriately funded to meet the 
        need of America's families;
            (5) improve the quality of childcare by guaranteeing 
        childcare workers a living wage and wage parity with K-12 staff 
        for those with equivalent education and experience, by 
        improving training opportunities, by investing in long overdue 
        infrastructure upgrades to childcare facilities, and by giving 
        workers a voice on the job to advocate for higher workplace 
        standards and standards of care for the children they serve;
            (6) expand access to full-day, full-school year Head Start 
        services, including Early Head Start, and high-quality, 
        universal preschool; and
            (7) provide sufficient Federal investment to make sure 
        resources for both high-quality jobs and affordable childcare.
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