Over 70,000 Daycare Programs at Risk of Closure, Threatening US Women’s Workforce Gains
More than 3 million children may lose their spots after federal child-care funding expires Sept. 30
Bella Magana, 27, is one parent already feeling squeezed by child-care costs.
Photographer: Jamie Kelter Davis/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The historic labor force gains US women have made in recent months are at risk of stalling or even reversing as a pandemic-era lifeline to daycare providers expires, with more than 70,000 child-care programs estimated to be in danger of closing.
The clock is set to run out at the end of September on $24 billion in government aid, hurting child-care providers already struggling with soaring costs and labor shortages. Some 3.2 million children could lose their spots, according to a recent estimate by the Century Foundation.