Ocasio-Cortez, Warren Team Up to Lower Costs, Deliver Universal Child Care

Child Care for Every Community Act would ensure half of families nationwide pay no more than $10 a day for child care, all families would see child care costs capped

Washington, D.C. – Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and are teaming up in the fight to deliver universal child care for American families. Following former-Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) becoming the new Governor of New Jersey, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is the new House co-lead for Sen. Warren’s Child Care for Every Community Act.

“The cost of childcare is a heavy burden on millions of American families. Across the country, parents are faced with impossible choices — forced to either pay their rent, put food on the table, or pay for childcare. In the wealthiest country in the world, families should be free from this financial strain. That is why I am proud to lead the Child Care for Every Community Act, a comprehensive bill that will ensure half of families nationwide would pay no more than $10 a day for childcare and cap childcare costs for all families,” said Representative Ocasio-Cortez. “When only the wealthy can afford peace of mind for their children, we’ve turned childhood itself into a privilege, not a promise. It is time that we give all families the quality, affordable childcare that they deserve.”

“Right now, working families are drowning under child care costs that just keep going up. In the wealthiest country on the planet, we can’t keep treating affordable, high-quality child care like a luxury reserved only for the richest Americans,” said Senator Warren. “Fixing the affordability crisis in this country means delivering universal child care, and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is exactly who I want by my side in the fight to get that done.”

The bill would ensure that families have access to affordable, high-quality universal child care options. Half of families nationwide would pay no more than $10 a day for child care, and all families would see their child care costs capped. A sliding scale will ensure that fees are affordable based on families’ income, as in the U.S. military child care program.

The Trump administration has worked to rip away child care funding and support for families, including new 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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