Congress: Child Care Is Critical Infrastructure

For too long, high costs and lack of availability of quality child care across the country have created massive challenges for families, especially low-income and families of color. The government must fund child care in a way that makes it accessible and affordable for all working families across the country.

Take Ashley for example, an electrician in West Virginia, who is the proud mother of seven children. She and her husband work hard at their jobs, but it hasn't been easy with the lack of affordable, quality child care.

"Right now, we actually don't have a child care option [for our youngest] because there is nothing that opens early enough for me to take her," Ashley says. "At the end of this school year, I have to get her in a daycare because I won't have a family member that's able to watch her anymore. So, it's a real issue."

Ashley's profession is one of the many crucial jobs needed to accomplish the work funded by Congress's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed last year. While Congress has sent $6 billion in infrastructure investments to West Virginia--investing in physical infrastructure jobs like Ashley's--it has so far failed to pass legislation that would provide parents with the child care they need to go to work.

Access is not the only barrier to child care. Cost is another huge problem for families in search of quality care. In 29 states and the District of Columbia, infant care costs exceed the average cost of in-state college tuition at public four-year institutions.

This is unsustainable for working families, and it's time for Congress to do something about it. Sign Oxfam America's petition and demand Congress invest in essential child care infrastructure with robust federal investments!