Earn It Goal 6

Workers find the reliable, convenient, affordable and appropriate child and dependent care they need to maintain a job.

Common Sense

• Without reliable and convenient child care, workers either cannot hold a job or suffer excess absenteeism that leads to job loss.
• In rural places, where workers often must travel long distances at odd hours for living wage jobs, finding child care that works with work can be an even greater challenge.
• It is difficult for small child care businesses to succeed in rural areas, where the number of potential customers is fewer, making revenue less, and thus making it tough to cover the costs of meeting all the regulatory requirements.

Fast Facts

• Full-day child care for one child can cost between $4,000 and $10,000 every year – at least as much as public college tuition in most states. (Children's Defense Fund, The State of America's Children, 2005)
• In 2004, only one in seven children eligible for child care assistance received it. (Children's Defense Fund, The State of America's Children, 2005)
• Seven in ten low-income rural working families with children receive no child care assistance. REF
• Child care subsidies increase the rate of employment among women who did not graduate from high school. (Research Connections, Parent Employment and the Use of Child Care Subsidies, 2006)

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