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In the COVID-19 Economy, We Are Running Out of Time to Prioritize Child Care

Liz Shuler
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In March, working families across the country started to scramble. Our homes were transformed into makeshift classrooms, summer camps and daycare centers as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and child care facilities.

For working mothers with young children, balancing a career and responsibilities at home during the coronavirus crisis has meant bearing an astronomically outsized share of the burden — a burden that for many exhausted and isolated mothers is not sustainable; a burden which, if we do not act, could result in a significant portion of women being pushed out of the labor force, erasing the progress we have made.  

While critical support for small businesses – child care centers included – was provided months ago through the CARES Act, only a quarter of the child care market received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Now as fall approaches, the Senate must pass the HEROES Act. This comprehensive coronavirus relief package would enact a number of child care provisions, including an additional $7 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant, $850 million through the Social Services Block Grant for child and family care for essential workers and $100 million in additional home visiting funds for child care programs.

The HEROES Act would help people like Sgt. Tanisha Woods.

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