Two major federal bills were reintroduced in March 2025, aiming to address the growing challenges faced by families, child care providers, and employers due to an unstable early childhood education and care industry.
- The Child Care Availability and Affordability Act, introduced in the Senate by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
- The Child Care Workforce Act, introduced in the House by Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA).
Together, these bills focus on two urgent issues: the high cost of child care and the severe shortage of qualified child care workers.
Making Child Care More Affordable
For many families, child care costs rival college tuition, making it difficult to balance work and family needs. To ease this burden, the proposed legislation includes enhancements to existing tax credits:
- Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC): Expanding the credit, making it refundable, and increasing the amount parents can receive.
- Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP): Raising the cap on pre-tax contributions to help families save more on child care expenses.
- Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit (45F): Increasing the maximum credit and coverage percentage for businesses offering child care benefits — also allowing small businesses to apply jointly for support.
Strengthening the Child Care Workforce
Beyond affordability, low wages make it difficult to recruit and retain qualified child care professionals. The Child Care Workforce Act seeks to address this by launching competitive grants to pilot wage supplement programs. These grants would be available to both center-based and home-based child care providers, helping to boost salaries and stabilize the workforce.
With strong bipartisan support, these bills represent a significant step toward a more accessible, sustainable child care system. As they move through Congress, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how these efforts could reshape the early childhood education landscape.
Stay tuned for updates!
Resources
Information adapted from First Five Years Fund (FFYF)