Child Care How is caring for your kids affecting you ? Veronica M., Wichita State University Graduate Student of Social Work

Article- “Who’s Watching the Kids Article- “Who’s Watching the Kids? Low-income parents face the threat of falling off child care assistance with a raise or promotion” By Julie Poppe and Robyn Lipowitz (Poppe, J., & Lipkowitz, R. (2016). Who's watching the kids? Low-income parents face the threat of falling off child care assistance with a raise or promotion. State Legislatures, (9), 18.) Child care assistance vs promotion How to address the need to keep child care assistance Everyone should be able to access high quality care The article “Who’s watching the kids? Low-income parents face the threat of falling off child care assistance with a raise or promotion” gave an insight to how important child assistance is. While in some cases, it is not much, it is enough to allow a person to work and bring just enough home to meet basic needs or to attend school. This article discussed how people were turning down promotions or better paying jobs for fear of losing assistance which is called the “cliff effect” because the increase in pay is not enough to cover the amount of assistance they were getting. The article discussed different ways that states were approaching this problem of finding a balance between giving assistance and helping parents achieve better paying jobs. Solutions attempted have been creating longer transitions periods before benefits get cut off once a parent makes over income guideline, setting income guidelines higher, states regulating child-care better by increasing stipends so that all children were eligible to attend high cost day care. This article not only took into account the issues with parents needing to afford child care, but looking at how parents could afford day care programs that were beneficial to the child and helped prepare them for school. 2

Cost of Day Care Daycare facilities vs Licensed in home daycare vs unlicensed daycare (http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Documents/Child_Care/Provider_Market_Rate_Study.pdf) Daycare facility-Full time- Under 18 months $541.25/monthly Over 18 months $476/monthly In-home licensed- Weekly rate ($124.8-$175) to daily rates ($2.40-$3.37) charged In-home not licensed- pay could be a daily rate or per hour Full time vs part time Part time spots are hard to come by Can be just as expensive as fulltime spots $133/week for 3 days Infant (birth to18months) vs non-infant Infant spots are more difficult to find and more expensive to send to daycare 2 2

What does that look like for your budget? Median Income-$51,872 (http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/20) Income at 2016 poverty level for a family of 3 in Kansas- $20,160 (http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/20) Sending 1 child (under 12 months) to full time child care- Facility= $688/month= $8,256/year In-home licensed day care $155/week= $8,060/year In-home unlicensed day care $125/week=$6500/year

Assistance State of Kansas assistance- Child Care Subsidy Program (http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/Child_Care/ChildCareSubsidy.aspx) Requirements: Teenage parents that are in high school and/or completing their GED may enroll. They need to stay in school in order to continue to receive ongoing assistance. -Residents who are on TANF, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, can receive help. This Kansas program helps these working poor families both get and keep jobs. -Some qualified families may be enrolled in education or job training activities. -In general, low-income, working families may be found to be qualified. They will need to meet government income limits and may be a lower priority. *the age for care is up to 13. Children 13 and up to not qualify (unless it falls under a special case) Income Guidelines- decides how much a family will pay Assistance help: Under 18 months $2.66 vs $2.00 Over 18 months $2.79 vs $2.40 Sibling discount at some day cares and facilities- the range was between $5-$15 Sliding Scale- some facilities and daycare sites base payment on a sliding fee scale but not many Child care tax credit

Why is this an important topic? Child care is important Many families depend on it in order to work and make a living. While states have increased their support for early childhood education, there are not enough regulations to ensure that all days cares are equal in creating curriculum that will make sure kids are ready for school. Expense of childcare impacting important life decisions Many families are depending on child care assistance and are not willing to risk losing that, even if it means giving up the chance for a better paying position. Without better paying jobs, families will have no means to improve their life and get out of poverty. This issue is not just affecting those at the poverty line, but also middle class Child care costs are becoming a burden not just on those that are in poverty, but also for the middle class. In many states, child care costs are meeting or exceeding the amount of college tuition. This is a real problem that will not fix itself. It is also a problem that can lead a family into financial crisis.

References Poppe, J., & Lipkowitz, R. (2016). Who's watching the kids? Low- income parents face the threat of falling off child care assistance with a raise or promotion. State Legislatures, (9), 18. http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Documents/Child_Care/Provid er_Market_Rate_Study.pdf http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/Child_Care/ChildCareSu bsidy.aspx http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/20