In the COVID-19 Economy, We Are Running Out of Time to Prioritize Child Care

In March, working families across the country started to scramble. Our homes were transformed into makeshift classrooms, summer camps and daycare centers as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and child care facilities.

For working mothers with young children, balancing a career and responsibilities at home during the coronavirus crisis has meant bearing an astronomically outsized share of the burden — a burden that for many exhausted and isolated mothers is not sustainable; a burden which, if we do not act, could result in a significant portion of women being pushed out of the labor force, erasing the progress we have made.  

While critical support for small businesses – child care centers included – was provided months ago through the CARES Act, only a quarter of the child care market received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Now as fall approaches, the Senate must pass the HEROES Act. This comprehensive coronavirus relief package would enact a number of child care provisions, including an additional $7 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant, $850 million through the Social Services Block Grant for child and family care for essential workers and $100 million in additional home visiting funds for child care programs.

The HEROES Act would help people like Sgt. Tanisha Woods.

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