Ocasio-Cortez, Scott, Murray, Warren Establish Child Care for America Working Group to Lower Costs, Deliver Child Care for Every American Family

Washington, D.C. – Today, longtime leaders on child care Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Bobby Scott (VA-03), along with U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), established a new working group as the latest major push in Democrats’ fight to lower costs and deliver child care for every American family. The Child Care for America working group will bring Democratic members of Congress together to coordinate broad support for landmark child care legislation. 

“It is time that we deliver on our promise to give working families the quality, affordable child care that they deserve. That is why I am proud to stand beside my colleagues to build a vision for the future of affordable child care for all Americans,” said Representative Ocasio-Cortez.

“Trump wants to spend our taxpayer dollars on a war with Iran that no one asked for—I want to make affordable child care a reality for every family in America,” said Senator Murray. “There’s a split screen in Congress right now: Republicans want to burn money on tax cuts for billionaires and regime change wars—Democrats want to lower the cost of basics like child care for families here at home. I’m linking arms with my colleagues to deliver a proposal that Americans everywhere can get behind to finally fix child care in America. Americans deserve a more hopeful vision for the future than the Republican plan for government that just funds endless wars and cuts food stamps. Government can do good things to make life better for our families—let’s finally make high-quality, affordable child care accessible for every working family.”

“Delivering high-quality child care is one of the best tools we have to make life more affordable for families. In the richest nation in the world, we should invest in child care like public infrastructure — not treat it like a privilege reserved for only the wealthiest Americans,” said Senator Warren. “Democrats are leading the charge on lowering costs and delivering child care for every American family.” 

“Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. We must expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce.

The working group will be guided by the following principles:

1. Affordability: Family costs must be predictable and affordable, with payments capped at no more than 7 percent of income, free child care for families with the lowest incomes, and guaranteed access with no waiting lists.
2. Child Care as Public Infrastructure: Federal funding must expand and stabilize child care supply, support safe facilities, and ensure resources meet all families where they are.
3. Boosting Worker Pay: Child care workers must be paid fairly and supported as professionals, with living wages, access to benefits, paid leave, retirement, and professional development.
4. High Quality and Accountability: Federal responsibility must be clear and enforceable, with the federal government covering at least 90 percent of system costs and having the ability to directly support localities when states fail to act, bolstered by strong reporting, oversight, and accountability standards.
5. Accessibility: The child care system must meet families where they are, with support for nontraditional hours, inclusive care for children with disabilities and developmental needs, language access, culturally responsive services, and full-day, full-year integration with Head Start and Early Head Start.
6. Urgent Implementation: The federal government must provide investments and support to ensure the child care supply scales up rapidly and addresses the immediate affordability crisis.

The new working group comes as momentum grows across the country for real progress on child care, as families face rising costs and limited access. Child care now averages more than $13,000 per year—up 29 percent since 2020—and in most states costs more than rent for many families, even exceeding in-state college tuition.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani successfully campaigned on free child care, and one of his very first actions in office was to announce a plan to introduce universal child care for New York children under five. Last year, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state would make child care free. Earlier this year, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie launched his Family Opportunity Agenda, which will ensure that every San Francisco family with children under five years old has access to child care.

Both New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill — previous House lead of Sen. Warren’s child care bill — and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger won competitive elections after pledging to increase access to child care.

Lowering child care costs is both good policy and what the American people want. In November, Democratic operative James Carville wrote in a New York Times op-ed: “When 70 percent of Americans say raising children is too expensive, we should not fear making universal child care a public good.” And Democratic operative David Plouffe recently asserted that “establish[ing] universal child care” should be part of the party’s 2028 platform.

Independent polling shows that voters across the political spectrum say child care is unaffordable. Seventy-two percent of Republican voters said increasing federal funding for child care was an important priority, along with 70 percent of political independents and 90 percent of Democrats.

The Trump administration has worked to rip away child care funding and support for families, including with recent efforts to freeze federal funds for child care and family assistance in five states over debunked claims of potential fraud and misuse of taxpayer funds.

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