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The Current Economy's Impact on Child Care

Over 11 million children under age 5 spend a portion of their day, every week, in the care of someone other than their mother. The average young child of a working mom spends about 36 hours a week in such care. About one-quarter of these children are in multiple child care arrangements strung together by their parents. The quality of care varies greatly and many working families struggle with the cost of care. With the current economic crisis, quality child care settings are even more important to the healthy development of children. In too many cases involving low income families, child care is the only place that children may receive a nutritious meal and snack, given that food is often one of the first places parents sacrifice as their family budget becomes tighter.

The most recent data shows that over 14.5 million Americans are out of work. Another 9 million are working part-time because they cannot find full-time work. About 7 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007. As parents lose employment, as their hours are cutback, they are taking their children out of organized child care and making due with whatever arrangement they can find (hoping it's safe, hoping it meets health and safety standards, hoping the arrangement is temporary until times are better).

Quality child care is the linchpin between working families and safe children. With the current economy, parents are forced to make many difficult decisions about the care of their children. Newspaper stories throughout the country describe parents pulling their children from child care and at very young ages leaving children home alone. In one case of a mall worker, the mother's hours were reduced, she pulled her daughter from child care and left her in the car where she checked on her every hour. Locking the car doors with an unattended child inside is not safe child care.

Congress passed stimulus legislation in February, referred to as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The measure included $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). For more information on ARRA and stimulus funding to be sent to the states this year, click here. Child care is critical - not just for families so that parents can work but also for children, particularly at a time where they need more continuity and stability in their lives. The following table lists the most recent newspaper stories throughout the country about the impact of the economy on child care.

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