The search for affordable child care is an issue for families in New Jersey and nationwide. And with American Rescue Plan funds, which supplemented the child care industry, petering out, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th) warns that solutions are needed to avoid a “funding cliff.“
“Even before COVID, too many parents did not have access to quality and affordable child care,” Sherrill said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “But certainly, COVID broke the system in too many places.”
Sherrill has been advocating for the Child Care for Every Community Act, which would establish a network of federally supported, locally administered child care options. It would ensure that “nobody pays more than 7% of their income in child care costs,” Sherrill said, “making sure we are supporting the workforce, the infrastructure … as well as making sure families can afford that child care.”
Sherrill and more than 100 other members of Congress have called for a $16 billion investment in child care.