Early Childhood

Child care is critical for working parents, but the high cost of care can be a challenge for families. A very small share of California families with low and moderate incomes receive care through the state’s subsidized child care and development system. Many of these families pay monthly fees into this system — fees that can be unaffordable for families who are living paycheck to paycheck. Working parents should not have to face impossible choices each month about whether to pay for food, rent, or child care. Learn more about family fees and why policymakers must use state and federal dollars to waive fees, ensure child care providers are supported, and boost families’ economic security.

More than 6 in 10 California children under the age of 12 live in families where all parents are working.

In this presentation learn what funding early care and education programs received in the 2020-21 state budget and from federal relief in 2020, and the additional support providers, workers, and families – particularly Californians of color and families in low-income households – still need from state and federal policymakers in the ongoing pandemic.

During this unprecedented health and economic crisis, many subsidized child care providers in California have stepped up to the challenge of providing early learning and care for families with low and moderate incomes – particularly for children with parents who are essential workers. While the state and federal government have both provided emergency funding to support subsidized child care providers, total support falls far short of the estimated level necessary to sustain child care providers. In addition, the Governor’s May Revision would cut provider payment rates by 10%. These rate cuts could be detrimental for child care providers who were already underpaid and operating on thin margins prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, during this crisis, providers are faced with dramatically higher costs due to smaller class sizes, increased staffing per child, and the added expense of keeping facilities clean as they care for and educate children.