Child Care Aware of America has issued a new report, “Demanding Change: Repairing Our Child Care System.” As the report states, “The pandemic illuminated how indispensable child care is for the well-being and economic security for our children, families, and communities, while simultaneously revealing the system’s many shortcomings. Child care has been underfunded for decades, resulting in an inadequate supply of high-quality programs and too many families priced out of the system. Providers can only charge what families can afford, which often translates into near-poverty wages and limited benefits (if any) for early educators. It is no secret that COVID-19 exacerbated these past and present challenges.”

The report has sections on supply, demand, affordability, and the child care workforce, and is packed with data, case studies, and recommendations. It includes state-specific data on the cost of child care and child care affordability for families. The full report is available on the Child Care Aware of America website.