An analysis from the National Partnership for Women and Families reveals a disconnect between the increasing costs of care and the stagnating wages of paid caregivers. Despite the crucial work caregivers do, their undervaluation forces many women out of the workforce. Key findings in the analysis show that though care workers saw a wage increase
The First Five Year Fund (FFYF) released a new collection of fact sheets that showcase how the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) positively affects families and children in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. CCDBG provides federal funding to states for child care subsidies to low-income families with children under the age of
On May 10th, 2024, the House Ways and Means Committee held a Field Hearing on “Empowering Native American and Rural Communities,” in Arizona, the first Ways and Means Committee hearing ever to be held on sovereign Tribal land. Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) opened the hearing and outlined the issues being discussed, particularly child support, child
On May 3, 2024, the Senate HELP Committee hosted a hearing entitled, “What can Congress do to address the severe shortage of minority health care professionals and the maternal health crisis?” Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stated that the US health-care system is inefficient and ineffective. The US spends twice as much per capita on healthcare
On May 3rd, 2024, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), the Global Women’s Strike and Women of Color/Global Women’s Strike hosted a webinar, “Compensating Care: How US Policy Can Support Unpaid Family Caregivers.” Elisa Minoff from CSSP stated that caregiving is essential work, but caregivers receive little support. Also, caregiving exists on
The Joint Economic Committee held a hearing on Wednesday April 10, 2024 entitled, Building Blocks for Success: Investing in Early Childhood Education. The goal of this hearing was to address the need for funding in the world of early childhood education and those families who need child care. Four witnesses came to testify before the
On February 28, 2024, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC) announced the final rule that will lower costs for families that receive child care subsidies, improve payment practices to child care providers, and increase families’ child care options. The new rule makes updates to the Child Care and Development
The National Women’s Law Center, held a webinar on December 4th entitled, “Providing Care for the Care Workforce - How Kentucky is Supporting Early Educators,” to discuss Kentucky’s strategy to eliminate childcare staffing shortages by giving childcare workers free childcare for their children. Across the country, 50% of the childcare workforce qualifies for assistance to
On Wednesday, November 29th, the Institute for Research on Poverty hosted a webinar entitled “Supporting Engaged Fatherhood and Family Wellbeing: The Role of Policy from the Community Level to the Federal Level.” They brought together four presenters to talk about the role of fathers in the family unit and some of the barriers those fathers
On November 8, 2023, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray highlighted the need for additional funding for child care during a hearing on the President’s supplemental funding requests for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In her opening