Top executives from 52 major companies are asking lawmakers to put more federal dollars into childcare.
The executives made their request in a letter to Congress. A copy of the letter was posted online by Politico.
The group, made up of current CEOs, company founders, and retired executives of firms, including Pizza Hut, RE/MAX, and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, are members of the ReadyNation CEO Task Force on Early Childhood.
In the letter, they urged Congress to act decisively now to address one of the biggest barriers to economic recovery and growth: "lack of affordable, quality childcare."
"Affordable childcare is out of reach for many families. Oftentimes, parents may choose to reduce their work hours or to leave the workforce altogether."
They called on Congress to provide direct grants to childcare providers "to increase capacity, improve quality, and expand childcare options."
They also want an increase in direct subsidies for low-income working parents in the Child Care Development Block Grant. And they are asking for permanent expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax credit.
The group also asked Congress to "fund and update Small Business Administration resources and guidance to assist childcare provider in launching their business ..."
"Now is the time to pass bipartisan, comprehensive, sustainable reforms to our nation’s child care system. We must come together to support children, families, and business innovation through increased public investments to help solve the ongoing childcare crisis."
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that childcare centers in the U.S. are having a difficult time finding enough qualified educators to be fully staffed. The owners of the childcare centers maintain that more workers are resigning and few people are applying to take their place.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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