This Mother's Day, we’re reflecting on the vital role that child care plays in ensuring families’ well-being. Most of the people who receive EMPath’s services are parents, many of them mothers – and we see every day in our work how access to affordable, high-quality child care can make all the difference in parents’ ability to work, pursue education or training, and build a better life for themselves and their children.

Yet a lack of affordable child care remains a barrier to economic stability and mobility for far too many families – both in Massachusetts and across the country. Action at the state and federal level is needed immediately to ensure families can access this basic right.

Child Care Aware reports that the national average price of child care in 2021 was over $10,000 annually. In Massachusetts, which has the highest child care costs in the country after only Washington DC, the average annual cost for infant care is a whopping $20,913, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s 60% more expensive than in-state tuition for a four-year public college in Massachusetts, and 31% more expensive than the state’s average rent.

Clearly, child care is far too expensive for low- and even middle-income families. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers child care “affordable” if it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income. By this standard, only 5.4% of Massachusetts families can afford infant care, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Without reliable child care, families are forced to make difficult choices, like leaving the workforce or settling for lower-paying jobs that offer more flexibility. Parents may reduce their hours or rely on informal and unregulated child care arrangements. This can limit parents' opportunities for career advancement and economic mobility and compromise the health and well-being of their children.

At EMPath, our program participants – most of whom are parents – face these barriers daily. And while our mentors provide guidance and support to help navigate the dilemmas that arise from a lack of child care, the bottom line is that no parent should be forced to choose between accessing child care and providing for their family.

"The cost of child care is almost equivalent to rent or mortgage in Massachusetts,” says Charmaine Lujares, Senior Director of EMPath’s AMP Up program. “If I work full-time, or take a promotion, I have to pay even more in child care, which leads to financial stress and increased self-doubt. If you know your child is taken care of, mothers in our state would be able to compete in the workforce with less worry.”

Thankfully, advocates in both Massachusetts and DC are pushing for legislation that would make child care more affordable and accessible.

Locally, the Common Start legislative framework would establish a system of affordable, high-quality early education and care for all children in MA from birth through age five. EMPath is a proud member of the Common Start Coalition pushing for these bills. The Common Start legislation would:

• Ensure families below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) can access child care at no cost
• Ensure families above the FPL pay no more than 7% of their income on child care
• Provide significantly better pay and benefits for early educators
• Establish a new, stable source of funding for providers
• Provide high-quality programs and services for children
• Provide substantial relief for businesses and our economy

At the federal level, EMPath is supporting three priority bills that would improve child care affordability:

• The Child Care for Working Families Act (S1354 / HR2976), recently reintroduced this session by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA)
• The Child Care for Every Community Act (S388 / HR953), reintroduced earlier this year by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)
• The Child Care is Infrastructure Act, introduced in past years and expected to be refiled this session

The bills would allow families making less than 75% of their state median income to access child care at no cost, while families making above that threshold would pay no more than 7% of their income. These bills also increase the critical Child Care and Development Block Grant, which allows states to improve affordability, bolster support for providers, and increase pay for teachers.

This Mother's Day, EMPath urges legislators to swiftly enact these bills so that families can access the care they need in order to build the future they deserve.

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