Dear Government Officials and Texas Workforce Commissioners:

    We are asking for an increase and continuance in government subsidies for parents and child care businesses during this Covid 19 pandemic. Unfortunately, child care was already in a precarious place prior to the pandemic. Now, this essential industry is even more at high risk of collapsing, due to lack of funding:

• Middle income families are spending more than 40% of their income on child care
• Parents are not working simply because they cannot afford child care services, and/or many businesses that employed them have limited their hours or just simply shutdown due to the pandemic.
• Lack of access to affordable care can drive parents, especially single mothers, to drop out of the labor force, hinders long-term earning potential, take on unsustainable debt, or compromise on the quality of care their children receive.
• Cost of operating a child care is also rising due to increased essential sanitizing needs.

CHILD CARE IS THE BACKBONE

The child care crisis not only affects our families and early educators, it also has a direct impact on our state’s economy.

• Talented employees (90% of the nations 1.2 million child care workers are women) are forced to leave their careers.
• Businesses are struggling to retain qualified and productive employees.
• As child care facilities are forced to close, parents will be forced to find other non-regulated avenues for child care.
• Child care is also a necessary and vital part of the economic infrastructure. As we stimulate the growth of others by employing workers, pay wages and taxes, and purchase goods and services from other industries. We also support the economy by enabling parents to enter and remain in the workforce.

Lack of affordable, quality child care is directly impacting our businesses and economy. If we are to grow as a state, child care and early learning programs are a critical linchpin in our state’s success.

By expanding affordable access to regulated, high-quality child care programs, Texas will be well-positioned to attract and support the workforce of today while also ensuring the healthy development of our children and the workforce of tomorrow.