Comments on: How Unaffordable Is Child Care for Low-Income Parents? http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/06/06/how-unaffordable-is-child-care-for-low-income-parents/ A nationwide dialogue about housing, poverty, and homelessness Mon, 20 May 2013 18:01:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Mostley http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/06/06/how-unaffordable-is-child-care-for-low-income-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-104 Mostley Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:14:05 +0000 http://www.povertyinsights.org/?p=4246#comment-104 thumbs UP!

]]> By: Carey Fuller http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/06/06/how-unaffordable-is-child-care-for-low-income-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Carey Fuller Fri, 08 Jun 2012 03:52:42 +0000 http://www.povertyinsights.org/?p=4246#comment-33 I made a video of calling the state for child care assistance and posted it to YouTube. I discovered that I do not qualify for it if I have a minimum wage job. I used to work nights and parked my RV that we were living out of outside of the warehouse where I could see it while I worked the night shift, something I never thought I'd be doing but when you're homeless, you don't get any other options. If you do get child care assistance guess what? It reimburses a family member or friend (if you can find one willing to watch your kids) and about $3 an hour!

Do we need to do better? Of course we do but the reality is that it will be a long time before homeless parents see badly needed safety nets and living wage jobs. TANF is not an option for me and never has been. $400 a month for a family of 3 just reminds us of how bad we have it and if that wasn't enough, if I am unable to find a job within DSHS guidelines, I would be sentenced to serve community service for that measley $400 a month. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't when it comes to state funded child care "assistance".

]]> By: Kathryn Baer http://www.povertyinsights.org/2012/06/06/how-unaffordable-is-child-care-for-low-income-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Kathryn Baer Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:13:00 +0000 http://www.povertyinsights.org/?p=4246#comment-32 One takeaway from these figures is that we need more funding for subsidized child care. But the main source of federal funding—the Child Care and Development Fund—could be cut.

The part of the Fund that depends on annual appropriations will get hit by sequestration (the impending across-the-board cuts) unless Congress and the President can agree on an alternative. And we should be very concerned about what Congress may do to the Fund in next year's budget.

Two national advocacy organizations have launched a campaign to protect and strengthen the Fund. They need us grassroots voters to get involved. You can find out more about it here: http://bit.ly/MbsC2g

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