Rep. Summer Lee Reintroduces Child Care for Working Families Act to Address the National Child Care Crisis

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WASHINGTON, D.C.– JULY 16, 2025 — Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, transformative legislation aimed at making child care more affordable and accessible for working families across the country. 

Congresswoman Lee, a leader on equitable care and working family policies, helped lead this effort in the House, reaffirming her commitment to supporting children, caregivers, and working parents in Western Pennsylvania and beyond. She serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she continues to advocate for bold investments in child care, education, and the rights of working people. 

“We are experiencing a child care crisis in this country. Child care—if folks can even find it—is pushing families into poverty, and Trump’s Big Ugly bill will only exacerbate the struggles our families are dealing with,” said Rep. Lee. “The Child Care for Working Families Act is a means to putting an end to this crisis. We have to make sure families have access to child care slots, that no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that all early childhood educators make a livable wage. I am grateful for Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Patty Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it over the finish line.” 

“Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.” 

“Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.” 

As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance, and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the child care crisis. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis.  

The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care 

The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care. 

The Child Care for Working Families Act will:  

• Make child care affordable for working families.
  • The typical family earning the state median income will pay about $10 a day for child care. 
  • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
  • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
  • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
• Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
  • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
  • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
  • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
  • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
• Support higher wages for child care workers.
  • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
  • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
• Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
  • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
  • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
  • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
• Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers. 

“Child care enables parents to work and kids to thrive. But right now, it's impossibly expensive,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “In the richest nation on earth, no parent should have to choose between groceries and child care. Under this bill, the typical family will pay no more than $10 a day for care. Ultimately, this bill is about giving every family a fair shot at the American Dream. I want my Republican colleagues to look parents in the eye and explain how they can oppose that.” 

“The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Senator Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.” 

“Throughout our country, too many working and middle class families struggle to find access to high-quality, affordable child care, forcing parents to make tough sacrifices for their children,” said Senator Hirono. “Child care is essential to the strength of our communities, and every family should be able to access the affordable care they need and deserve. That’s why I am proud to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide a long-term investment in our children as an important step forward in tackling our country’s child care crisis.” 

“Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.” 

This legislation is backed by a broad coalition of early childhood education advocates, working families, and progressive leaders. Over three-quarters of Americans support increased federal investment to lower child care costs. 

The bill is currently co-sponsored by 83 Members of the House and 44 Senators. 

A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE. 

Text of the legislation is available HERE. 

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.