Affordable child care is a barrier for many families working to make ends meet. For some, child care costs for an infant surpass $10,000 a year — That’s more money than college tuition at some universities. Throw a global pandemic into the mix, and this has increased the struggle for many working families.
That’s why Governor Whitmer recently announced her plan to invest $1.4 billion into a child care affordability program to help Michiganders get back on their feet.
Governor Whitmer recognizes the impact that the high cost of child care can have on a family and Michigan’s economy as a whole, sharing, “Every family in Michigan deserves to have access to safe, affordable quality child care that meets their needs. Our state’s economic recovery depends on us getting this right.”
And she’s right. In order for Michigan communities to recover long term, workers and working families need to be backed by substantial support.
This new proposed funding increases the income eligibility requirement for a family of four from 150% to 200% ($39,330 to $53,000) of the federal poverty level, giving more families access to quality, low-cost childcare, and benefiting 150,000 additional Michigan children.
The proposal also increases funding to support child care providers and increases the pay of child care professionals.
This proposal is backed by the Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist who shared, “We have a chance to make a generational investment that will impact future generations of Michiganders, allowing for parents to work and be even more productive and providing an environment that children can thrive in.”
And U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D-11) emphasized these sentiments tying in the American Rescue Plan, calling it “the largest investment ever in the history of the United States for daycare and childcare in America.”
Overall, this historic proposal has the potential to get working families struggling from the impacts of the pandemic back on their feet and stronger than ever before. To read more about this new proposal, head to BRIDGE MI here.
