Governor Kathy Hochul plans to increase state spending to $1.4 billion to support New Yorkers in childcare subsidies. This includes setting up day care centers in universities and additional support for working parents. Despite the actions gearing to support struggling parents, the Democratic Legislature felt that this was still not enough to support the entire New York State in childcare.
The funding that the governor proposed would be geared towards low-income families. New Yorkers are likely to see the childcare support moving forward on April 1st when final state budgets are turned in for review. The proposal entails childcare support for families who earn up to five times more than $27,759 for a family of four people.
From this, lawmakers hope to provide universal childcare in the United States. An increased funding in childcare would allow more women to enter into the workforce. Women are still the main caretakers of the house. To accommodate the rising costs of housing in New York, women are needed to go to work to support their family financially in life’s needs. Carmen Perez-Jordan, President & CEO of The Gathering for Justice, said, “Too many women are forced out of the workforce, simply because childcare is too unaffordable or unreliable for them to hold down a job. Single mothers are especially penalized by our inequitable system. At the same time, educators are leaving the child care industry in droves because they barely make enough money to survive on, despite their skill and the importance of their jobs.”
Other lawmakers saw additional positive points in funding for childcare as children are able to obtain additional educational needs in their younger years. A former teacher said that childcare puts the focus on children who need the support to grow and reach their full potential.
As the pandemic situation improves through vaccinations and local mandates, New Yorkers are slowly getting back to work, meeting their coworkers face-to-face. There is no doubt that childcare expenses will continue to rise as working parents rely on childcare services to focus on their day jobs. University at Buffalo, Buffalo State, Erie Community College, SUNY Fredonia and Niagara Community College are a few colleges that will obtain funding for childcare services. There are about 1,200 students in these schools who are also parents, so the financial support for childcare will leave an impact for parents to continue their education.
With the funding for childcare services, there is a glowing hope that families will be alleviated from the financial burden of childcare while supporting childcare workers who put so much time and effort into supporting the future of their children. New Yorkers would no longer need to sacrifice their career and life to support their kids.
