Relief Money Could More Than Double Support For Child Care Needs In Mississippi

Inside the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package President Biden signed on Thursday is a huge, much-needed boost for the child care industry.

Almost $25 billion is going toward child care providers and centers, and an additional $15 billion will go toward helping families get access to child care.

The child care system has taken a huge financial hit during the pandemic — between slashed budgets and lost income from shutdown-enforced closures.

Child care centers and after-school programs are overwhelmingly run by women — disproportionately Black and Latina women — many of whom live below the poverty line. And the parents, especially single parents — the majority of whom are women — dependent on that care are losing out. Child care demands are a big reason why women are leaving the workforce at startling rates.

Carol Burnett, who advocates for child care centers as executive director of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative, called the money "a game changer" for mothers in a state that has among the country's highest concentrations of poverty.