Rep. Larsen calls for long-term, structural investment in child care

Larsen: “Access to affordable child care is essential to working families in Washington state.”

||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. RICK LARSEN |||

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) called on Congress to make a long-term, structural investment in child care to secure accessible and affordable child care for working families, drive economic recovery, and create and retain child care jobs. Larsen joined Assistant Speaker of the House Katherine Clark and 130 Members of Congress to urge congressional leaders to invest $700 billion over the next 10 years in the child care workforce, facilities and other necessary infrastructure and services to enable child care providers to provide care at an affordable price and meet the demands of local communities.

“In Washington state and across the country, child care is essential for working families and is key to long-term economic growth. However, based on my conversations with providers and stakeholders in Northwest Washington, safe, high quality child care remains out of reach for too many,” said Larsen. “Congress must make a bold, FDR-like investment in child care infrastructure to ensure all children have an opportunity to succeed, parents and caretakers can return to work, and the child care workforce can thrive.”

Larsen continues to champion necessary investments and reforms to ensure the long-term viability of child care providers in the United States.

• In January, Larsen hosted a series of virtual roundtables with child care organizations and providers from across Washington’s Second District that informed his child care priorities for the American Rescue Plan.
• In March, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a comprehensive relief package Larsen supported that included more than $40 billion to help providers safely keep doors open and ensure working families can afford child care during the pandemic.

Child care capacity decreased by nearly 50 percent in San Juan County during the pandemic.

• Today, Larsen joined Assistant Speaker Clark and 130 Members of Congress to urge congressional leaders to make a bold, FDR-like investment in child care to boost federal funding for Child Care and Community Development Block Grants, expand Head Start and establish a dedicated grant initiative to help providers afford facility or startup costs.
• Larsen also supports the Child Care for Working Families Act, legislation introduced by House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Patty Murray to address the ongoing child care crisis, ensure working families can find and afford high-quality child care, and create roughly 700,000 new child care jobs nationwide.

Washington state has a serious shortage of child care. In a July 2020 report, Washington’s Child Care Collaborative Task Force estimated more than half a million children in Washington state did not have access to licensed child care prior to the pandemic. Since then, the pandemic has exacerbated the child care shortage in Washington. Child care capacity decreased by nearly 50 percent in Whatcom and San Juan counties and by more than 20 percent in Island, Skagit and Snohomish counties during the pandemic.