Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to express my support for the Child Care for Working Families Act, which I was proud to introduce earlier this afternoon with Senators Murray, Casey, and 30 of our Senate colleagues.

We know that investments in early childhood programs are foundational for future academic and social success. Yet child care remains unaffordable for too many working families in the United States.

For parents worried about how to pay for basic living expenses like housing, food, education, and transportation, increasing child care costs can place a heavy burden on family budgets.

As a young immigrant from Japan who was raised by a single, working mother, I understand the difficult decisions families have to make every day to survive. I have experienced these challenges firsthand. Yet, all these years later, for many Hawaii families, child care costs exceed all other expenses besides housing.

On average, Hawaii parents can expect to pay $8,280 per year, or $690 per month, in child care expenses. These costs are 25 percent higher than they were just a decade ago, but wages have hardly kept pace. As a result, Hawaii families will dedicate around 11 percent of their family budget to child care--exceeding the government's standard for affordable care.

Unfortunately, even for families that can afford child care, finding that needed care may be difficult. This is because our early childhood educators and child care workers are overworked and underpaid. In addition, there is a severe need for more facilities to accommodate the families that need them. The need is great, and that is why the Child Care for Working Families Act is so important. This legislation will make sure working families have access to high-quality, affordable early childhood programs.

Specifically, the bill expands the existing Child Care and Development Block Grant program to guarantee that working and middle class families have access to affordable child care--ensuring that these families do not have to pay more than 7 percent of their income toward care, regardless of how many children they have.

The bill also expands Head Start to promote universal preschool for young children.

Additionally, the bill also addresses the need to support our early childhood workers by making sure teachers, care givers, and other workers responsible for our children are fairly-compensated and fully- supported with training and professional development opportunities.

These are the core provisions of the bill, which represents an essential investment in the stability and prosperity of working families in Hawaii and across our Nation. Every family deserves access to high-quality, affordable early childhood programs, and we will continue fighting to make child care more affordable for all children.

I thank my colleagues for their continued support in this effort, and urge support for this important legislation.

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