Toward a New Child Care Policy
Toward a New Child Care Policy
Child care policy in the United States has focused primarily on helping working families (or parents preparing to enter the workforce) afford child care.
A large portion of mothers, including mothers of the youngest children, were in the labor force in 2003.
Support to help parents afford child care is delivered through two major programs: the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a block grant to states primarily designed to provide child care subsidies to low-income working families, and the Dependent Care Tax Credit, designed to give tax breaks to middle-class families to help them afford child care.
Federal block grants to states with federal guidelines, rules, and earmarks have delegated substantial authority and decisionmaking to the states.
However, the federal government remains a key player in two ways: it provides the majority of overall funding and it sets the major policy parameters for child care funding.
Funding for child care subsidies has grown dramatically since welfare reform efforts in the late 1990s, with increases in CCDF funding boosted by state discretionary use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for child care.
