The Biden administration has announced that it will grant more than $13 million to childcare programs across the country.
Earlier this month, the Department of Education (ED) said that educational institutions in the U.S. will receive the grant to assist with campus childcare programs for parents enrolled in classes.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, Atlanta Metropolitan State College in Georgia, the University of Delaware, and Jacksonville State University in Alabama are among the 30 schools receiving funding.
A portion of the childcare funds promised would also go to several community colleges. According to data, one in five students in the U.S. are parents, and 42 percent of student parents tend to go to community colleges.
“I am a big believer in campus child care programs because I’ve seen how they break down barriers to upskilling and attaining postsecondary education for parents with young children—bringing the American Dream within reach for families across America,” education secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The Department of Labor (DOL) said that the funding will ask institutions to show how they plan to pay higher wages for childcare workers, who typically tend to earn around $13 an hour.
The ED also announced that it will give priority to institutions that plan to improve care for low-income parents and will raise pay for early childhood teachers.
Childcare has become a significant household expense, with Americans now having to spend a third of their income on it. The “American Rescue Plan,” a COVID-era stimulus program that the Biden administration had introduced, had provided childcare benefits, but it expired in September and may force the closure of tens of thousands of daycare centers.
According to research, women frequently shoulder the majority of childcare responsibilities, which forces them to put their jobs on hold to the detriment of the economy. Daycare costs can burn a family thousands of dollars, with some American cities exceeding $500 per week in service costs.
“Higher childcare prices are especially detrimental to maternal employment as mothers’ employment drops in areas with more expensive child care, even in places where women’s wages are higher,” the DOL has said.
