If families do not have access to child care options that work for them, many parents will not be able to return to work. This is why a stable supply of quality, affordable child care is a critical component of our country’s reopening and longer-term economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The child care sector needs investment from the federal government to help meet the diverse needs of a broad range of providers.
On Thursday, May 14, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation hosted a briefing for journalists featuring leading experts addressing these key questions:
What is needed to adequately stabilize the child care system including the myriad ways care is provided?
What is the impact on parents and caregivers, particularly women, including those who are also child care workers, if child care options are not available? How does this impact their economic security now and in the future?
What new policies and guidelines will child care providers and workers need to implement in order to continue serving families? Are they safe, logistically and financially feasible and developmentally appropriate?
What role should caregivers play in helping to decide the future of child care? What are the risks if they are not included?
With the pandemic reinforcing how crucial child care is to the well-being of families, how can we use this obligation to reimagine the system?
WHO:
Patricia Cole, Senior Director of Federal Policy, ZERO TO THREE
Shana Bartley, Director of Community Partnerships, Income Security & Child Care/Early Learning, National Women’s Law Center
Erica Phillips, Chief Operations Officer, All Our Kin
Rebecca Gonzales, CEO and Founder, Time to Learn Daycare
Monica Hobbs Vinluan, JD, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation