February 10, 2023 11:00 a.m.

On Thursday, Senator Ron Wyden said he has joined with colleagues to introduce new legislation that would expand access to affordable child care to every American family, offer high-quality early education to every child and create good jobs for early educators.

Wyden said, “There are countless parents who want to work to provide for their families but simply can’t because there is no affordable child care option for them”. Wyden said, “The financial and emotional strain of finding affordable, quality child care isn’t something anyone should face. Working parents – especially working moms – need more support and I’m all in to lower the cost of quality child care in every community to secure a better future for generations to come”.

Wyden’s release said in Oregon, at least 60 percent of residents live in a child care desert where fewer than one-third of children have access to a slot at a licensed facility. The Child Care for Every Community Act would establish a network of federally-supported, locally-administered child care options that use a sliding scale to ensure that fees are affordable based on the income of a family.

The release said higher-income families would pay no more than seven percent of their income, and lower income families making less than 75 percent of their state median income would be fully subsidized. Half of families nationwide would pay no more than $10 a day for child care.

An in-depth release regarding the legislation is linked: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-cap-child-care-costs-for-families