Thank you for signing!
Support Affordable Child Care And The American Families Plan
Final signature count: 4,717
4,717 signatures toward our 30,000 goal
Sponsor: The Literacy Site
Support The American Families Plan and help parents of young children afford the costs of child care when they need it most!
Research in the United States shows that children of low-income families are less likely to have formal child care. That amounts to millions of young children being left behind because of issues that are out of their control1.
In contrast, programs undertaken by other countries, have been shown to reduce the gap in kindergarten readiness. Yet in the United States, one in three American children start kindergarten without any preschool at all2.
In the U.S., formal child care costs about $1,000 to $6,000 a month, with no guaranteed spot. Moreover, the government will not cover expenses for parents who choose to stay home or find another arrangement3.
Currently, just .2% of the U.S. G.D.P. is spent on child care for children 2 and under. That usually comes in the form of a $200 tax credit for a single family each year. The child and dependent care tax credit pays out more to families that make more, from $124 for the lowest earners up to $5864.
Other comparable countries spend on average of 0.7% of their G.D.P. on children under 2. The average 2-year-old in Denmark is guaranteed a spot in daycare until they are 10 years old, for which their parents are given a 75% discount. The Danish government puts $23,140 annually per child toward care for children 2 and under, and supports parents who choose to stay home or hire a nanny, as well5.
The American Families Plan will ensure low and middle-income families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care for children under 5 years old, saving the average family $14,800 per year on child care expenses, while also generating lifetime benefits for three million children, supporting hundreds of thousands of child care providers and workers, allowing roughly one million parents, primarily mothers, to enter the labor force, and significantly bolstering inclusive and equitable economic growth6.
The American Families Plan could make it much easier for millions of working families to afford care for the children who will some day lead this country. Sign the petition and show your support for this important piece of legislation and American families.
