Child care will cost more for many parents
President Biden’s ambitious child care plan will be “challenging to implement,” writes Andrew Prokop on Vox.
If the $185 trillion Build Back Better Actpasses, the federal government will subsidize child care, mandate higher pay for child-care workers and fund new facilities.
But the plan could “drive up prices for many parents, and may lead to a shortage of licensed child care options as millions of parents enter an already-crowded market for the first time,” writes Prokop. Middle- and upper-middle-class parents, who’ll have to wait years for a subsidy, will pay a lot more.
The bill includes money for new facilities, but “ramping up supply is easier said than done,” Prokop notes. In addition to expanding space for child care, federal aid will have to fund hiring, training and retaining new staff.
“I’ve looked at a number of government programs over the years and usually I think there’s a way to make them work,” says Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “This one I worry about.”
States may opt out rather than pick up some of the costs, starting in 2025. The federal spending ends in 2027, unless a future president and Congress pass a new law extending it.
