Sherrill Leads House Efforts to Extend Critical Child Care Funding and Bring Costs Down for New Jersey Families

Supplemental Funding Would Bring Back $300 Million to New Jersey and Strengthen Economy and Workforce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) continued her charge to extend critical federal stabilization funding to help New Jersey child care centers keep their doors open and costs down for families, after House Republicans let federal funding expire earlier this year. Sherrill co-led a letter to House leadership urging swift action, which brought along more than 150 members of the House.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Child Care Stabilization Funding

• A one year extension of this funding, as requested in President Biden’s supplemental request, would bring back more than $300 million in federal tax dollars to New Jersey to keep centers open and costs down for families.
• Without federal action, child care centers across the country could be forced to close their doors. In New Jersey, more than 1,000 child care centers are expected to close and more than 100,000 children could lose their child care.
• Parents without affordable child care options will also shoulder the consequences, forced to reduce work hours or drop out of the workforce entirely. A loss of this federal funding would result in $453 million less in employer productivity and Garden State families will lose nearly $400 million in earnings.

Efforts by Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill

• Sherrill has fought tirelessly to avert the funding cliff and to bring down the cost of child care for New Jersey families. Before the funding expired, she introduced the Child Care Stabilization Act, which will extend critical federal grants to child care facilities in New Jersey and across the country. This legislation was endorsed by child care advocates and business groups alike.
• Earlier this year, she convened a panel of parents, providers, and business leaders to discuss the need to bring down the cost of childcare, hosted a roundtable with parents at the YMCA of Montclair about their childcare experiences, and visited Head Start Community Program of Morris County to discuss how funding cuts could impact their services.
• She has also introduced the Child Care for Every Community Act — which is modeled after Head Start and the military’s child care program. The bill would ensure that no family has to pay more than seven percent of their income toward child care expenses.

You can read the letter here. The Senate letter can be found here.

Urgent Need for Robust Funding

Dear Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Chairwoman Granger, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

We write today to urge you to include robust funding for child care in any supplemental funding package considered by the Appropriations Committee. Child care is unaffordable and hard to find for working families, and child care providers across the country are struggling to stay afloat. We are extremely concerned that this crisis will continue to worsen following the expiration of the Child Care Stabilization Grants provided under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This vital funding sustained an estimated 220,000 child care providers, saved an estimated 9.6 million child care slots, and maintained more than 1 million child care jobs. President Biden acknowledged this urgent issue by requesting significant funding for child care in his domestic supplemental appropriations request to Congress.

The Child Care Crisis

Prior to the pandemic, the child care system was already in a crisis. In 2018, over 50 percent of counties in the United States were considered a child care desert – an area in which the demand for child care is far more than the supply. The broken child care market has resulted in an impossible tension between families, workers, and providers: child care providers cannot afford to run their businesses or pay adequate wages to their staff using revenue from parents alone, while child care costs are unaffordable and unsustainable for working families. For years, the situation has been far worse for families with low incomes, families of color, families seeking infant and toddler care, care for children with disabilities, and care during non-traditional hours.

Impact on the Economy

The child care workforce has been one of the slowest sectors to recover from the pandemic, and wages for this critical workforce remain unacceptably low, further fueling the shortage of available child care options for families. As of September 2023, the child care industry was missing more than 38,400 workers compared to pre-pandemic levels. At the rate that child care jobs have been regained in 2023 so far, it could take almost 12 months—until September 2024—for the child care sector to recover pandemic-related job losses. This threatens America’s economic stability and competitiveness. It is estimated that the lack of child care costs our economy $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue annually.

Call for Action

Families and child care providers are feeling increasingly squeezed following the expiration of COVID-19 relief funding for child care, as child care providers scramble to fill the gap in resources previously filled by federal funds. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that child care prices increased 1.7% in September 2023, while the Consumer Price Index for all items rose by only 0.2% over the same period. Child care providers in communities across the country are at risk of closure. Already,

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 1.2: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
• Target 3.2: By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
• Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
• Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.
• Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.
• Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age.
• Indicator 3.2.1: Under-five mortality rate.
• Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning, and psychosocial well-being, by sex.
• Indicator 5.4.1: Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age, and location.
• Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age group, and persons with disabilities.
• Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex, and persons with disabilities.
• Indicator 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private and civil society partnerships.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table