Womenstake

A Mother's Day Wish List

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women’s Law Center

As we celebrate the mothers in our own lives this Mother's Day, we should also remember that many parents are denied the best gift of all — knowing that their children are in high-quality child care.

This care gives parents the support and peace of mind they need to be productive at work, and helps children learn and develop skills they need to succeed in school and in life. However, if current federal funding trends continue, more and more children will lose child care assistance, and will not be able to participate in Head Start.

In honor of Mother's Day, please write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper, reminding our nation’s leaders to make child care and Head Start national funding priorities — and please also send an eCard to your family, friends, and co-workers inviting them to do the same.

And check out MomsRising’s Mother’s Day eCard. 

When America supports child care, we encourage children, families, and our nation to reach their full potential.

Children and Families Need the Starting Early Starting Right Act

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women’s Law Center

Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) wants to give an important gift to America’s mothers as Mother’s Day approaches. In these tough economic times, recognizing that affordable high-quality child care is a basic that helps children develop the skills they need to be ready for school and helps families get ahead by giving parents the peace of mind they need to be productive at work, he introduced the Starting Early Starting Right Act.

The bill is mindful of that fact that high-quality child care is often unavailable to low-income children and their families. Senator Casey’s bill addresses this problem by increasing funding so states can provide more high-quality child care opportunities for low-income families and help the hundreds of thousands of children across the country on waiting lists for child care assistance.

This is a bill that also understands that families with our youngest children—infants and toddlers—need the most attention given the difficulties with finding care as well as the clear research about the importance of  children’s earliest years. The Starting Early Starting Right Act supports infants and toddlers by requiring states to set aside 30 percent of the bill’s total funding for this underserved group of children.

Child care develops America’s potential by helping children, families, and communities prosper. However, even though child care is immensely important, federal funding for child care assistance has been virtually flat-funded for seven years. Senator Casey’s bill, which helps our nation stay competitive by encouraging children to do well in school and supporting working parents, is right on target.

For more information about Senator Casey’s Starting Early Starting Right Act please see the National Women’s Law Center’s summary at http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/CaseyBillSummary.pdf.

Thank You for Marching Forth

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women's Law Center

On March 4th, advocates across the country asked their members of Congress for increased investments in child care and Head Start. Our collective efforts resulted in more than 25,000 calls and e-mails to Members of Congress.

Congress is showing signs of recognizing the importance of investing in young children. The recently released Senate budget suggests a $440 million increase for child care and $447 million increase for Head Start appropriations. Although the budget is not binding, the mentioning of an increase in these key programs is definitely a step in the right direction.

Thank you to all who participated in the March Forth for Child Care and Head Start! We’ll let you know what happens next.

What’s Right with Kansas

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women's Law Center

Kansas has gotten the message on the importance of reaching children early and providing support for infants, toddlers and their families. In her 2008 State of the State Address, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced plans for an Early Childhood Block Grant, which would provide $23 million for grants to community-based programs, school district, Head Start sites, and childcare programs - with at least 30 percent of funds reserved to serve infants and toddlers. The governor also proposed additional investments in other child care assistance and prekindergarten. These initiatives are in response to the fact that half the state's five-year-olds aren't ready for kindergarten.

It’s about time our spending reflects the fact that the learning process starts as early as infancy, and that early stimulation is essential to children’s successful development. In her address, the Governor remarked:

“We know that early education is key to preventing school failure. We can’t afford for any of our young Kansans to be so far behind that they never catch up by the time they enter kindergarten.”

By including aid to these programs in her proposal for the Kansas state budget, Sebelius acknowledges that learning begins before prekindergarten.

The Early Childhood Block Grant would provide support ranging from pre-natal care and newborn screening to early childhood education programs such as Early Head Start and Parents as Teachers. 

Kudos to Kansas for these pioneering efforts to provide the state’s children with the benefits of an early education. We hope other states will follow the Sunflower State’s lead by supporting comprehensive early childhood education bills that include infants and toddlers.

Today's the Day — March Forth for Child Care and Head Start!

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women's Law Center

Today, all across the country, thousands of advocates are joining together to March Forth in support of increased funding for child care and Head Start by calling or e-mailing their Members of Congress.

We are joining together because our children deserve a better and brighter future. Under the President’s budget, 200,000 low-income children and their families will lose child care assistance, and 14,000 children will lose Head Start.

Please add your voice by calling or e-mailing your Members of Congress today.

To call your representatives, use the script below and dial toll-free at 1-888-460-0813. The operator who answers the phone will ask which Senator or Representative you would like to speak to. To find out who your Senators and Representative are, search our directory before you call.

Tell the staffers who answer the phone in your representatives’ offices:

• Hi, my name is (INSERT NAME.) I’m a constituent. (If you are also a parent, child care provider, community leader, etc., feel free to mention that as well.)
• I am calling because I believe that child care and Head Start are essential programs for children and families. I urge Senator/ Representative (INSERT NAME) to support an increase of $874 million for child care and $1 billion for Head Start in this year’s budget.

Thank you for Marching Forth for child care and Head Start!

The Last Bush Budget: Missing the Boat on Early Care and Education

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women's Law Center

An increasing number of governors and state legislators around the country, recognizing the importance of the early years to children’s development and their futures, are supporting new investments in early childhood programs. Yet, with the budget proposal he has released today, it is clear that the President is refusing to join with these state leaders.

Turning a deaf ear to the advice of esteemed economists and researchers and ignoring the experiences of millions of children and families, the Administration has proposed a budget that actually would reduce the number of poor infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who could participate in the comprehensive Head Start program. It would also reduce the number of low-income children and families who could receive help paying for child care, making it more difficult for parents to afford the child care they need to work.

These cuts belie common sense.

UPDATE: Check out NWLC's full statement on the President's budget.

A Sweet Song for Head Start Children

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women’s Law Center

Today, I witnessed one of the most poignant moments I’ve ever seen on Capitol Hill.

The bill reauthorizing the landmark Head Start program was enrolled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and sent to the President for his signature. Head Start has provided comprehensive supports to millions of low-income children and their families for over 40 years. The Speaker enrolled the bill with a shining-eyed Head Start child on her lap.

Senator Ted Kennedy then led the group of advocates who had worked for almost five years towards the passage of this very important bill, as well as Head Start families and children and Head Start Directors and teachers in singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Children got something they deserved from the Congress, as well as a very sweet song. The bill’s provisions strengthen the program and allow to it to not only reach more children but also younger children. Providing the funding needed to make this happen should be their next step.

Children and their families had a good day in Washington.

It's Time to Reverse the Downward Trend on Child Care Spending

by Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy
National Women’s Law Center

A new study by the Brookings Institute confirms that many families depend on working women’s income not to get ahead but simply to keep from falling behind. This will not be news to the many families that rely on the income that women bring in. Yet the study, which started tracking a sample of 2,367 individuals in 1968, provides some concrete data to demonstrate this reality.

The study found there was slow growth in family income between 1974 and 2004 — 0.3 percent per year for men in their 30s and their families. The fact that there was any growth at all was because the increase in women’s earnings compensated for the lack of increase in men’s earnings. After adjusting for inflation, median personal income for women in their 30s rose from about $5,700 to $20,000 a year between 1974 and 2004, but median personal income for men in their 30s fell from $40,000 to about $35,000 a year during this time period.

In order for women to work and make this essential contribution to family income, they need reliable, affordable and high-quality child care. Without it, either they will be unable to work at all, leading to a decline in their families’ incomes, or any miniscule increase in income that their families do see will be eaten up by their child care costs. Unfortunately, funding for child care assistance to help families pay for care has remained stagnant over the past several years, and a reversal of this trend is not likely in the near future. In its annual appropriations bill for health and human services programs, Congress includes only a very small increase for child care assistance ($32.5 million) — not even enough to cover inflation. And since President Bush vetoed this appropriations bill, saying it spent too much, even this very small increase for child care is in jeopardy.

It is time to help families who are working get the help they need and to reverse course on this downward trend in child care spending.

Give a Break to Teachers Working with Young Children

by Helen Blank

Research is clear that training and education for early childhood teachers makes a difference in the quality of early childhood settings. However, there is often not much incentive to seek this challenging and underpaid work. Teachers working in child care and prekindergarten programs typically earn significantly lower salaries than those who work with older children. With such low salaries and few if any loan forgiveness options, many cannot afford to even stay in the field if they earn their degree. The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act , which is currently weaving its way through Congress, would encourage more individuals who would like to work as early childhood educators to consider going to school to earn a degree. The House bill in particular expands loan forgiveness for teachers working in child care, prekindergarten and Head Start programs. The Senate bill also includes provisions to support a systemic approach to helping teachers move through their education and improve their overall compensation. Given the increasing focus on the importance of a strong start for children, we must ensure that the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act includes this essential support for early childhood educators.

Flexibility and Child Care

By Helen Blank

A number of recent articles have raised the point that women with children are increasingly interested in part-time work. Other articles tout the importance of flexibility, whether it is in full- or part-time work. However, a significant group of women have been absent from this discussion—the large number of single, low-income mothers who don’t have choices about their work schedule, either because they can’t afford not to work full-time or because their employer doesn’t offer the option of working part-time. Many low-income mothers also lack other benefits or flexibility in their work. Only 59% of parents with incomes below 200% of poverty have access to any paid leave, compared to 84% of parents with higher incomes.

Low-income parents rely heavily on child care and stretch their limited incomes to cover the high costs. Many poor, single, working mothers who pay for care must devote a sizeable portion of their income to child care. These women are desperate for help, but aid from Washington to help parents afford the child care they need to work has shrunk. By the administration’s own estimates, 150,000 children have lost child care since 2000, and if current funding trends continue, 300,000 more will be cut by 2010. Low-income women are working hard to support themselves and their families. It’s time to reverse course. Mothers must be able to support their children and have the peace of mind of knowing that they are in safe, high-quality child care.