Policy brief · Families
No. 02 · October 2026

Universal Child Care

The first five years, guaranteed for every family, at no more than 7% of income.

For campaign staff, legislative offices and press · Figures sourced in the notes

The bottom line

Child care for one child averaged $13,128 in 2024, about 10% of a married couple's median income and 35% of a single parent's.¹
46% of children under 6 live in a child care desert, with too few licensed slots or none at all.³
The people doing the work earn a median $15.41 an hour, 52 cents for every dollar a kindergarten teacher earns.^4,5
The breakdown costs the economy $122 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity and revenue.⁶
The Child Care for Working Families Act (H.R. 4418, S. 2295) would cap costs at 7% of income and pay educators like teachers.^11,12

$13,128Average price of care for one child, 2024¹

46%Of children under 6 in a child care desert³

$15.41Median hourly pay for child care workers⁴

82%Of voters say federal funding will help lower costs¹⁵

01The problem

The federal government considers child care affordable at 7% of household income. Labor Department data show prices for one child running between 8.9% and 16% of median family income across the country.² In 45 states and D.C., center care for two children can cost more than a year of mortgage payments.¹

For many families there is no spot at any price. The share of young children living in a child care desert ranges from 5% in Washington, D.C. to 96% in Alaska, and parents who work nights and weekends are often left with nothing licensed.³

Prices are high and wages are low at the same time, because the system runs on thin margins. The main federal subsidy reaches about 14% of eligible families.⁷

Price of care for one child, share of median income

Single parent

35%

Married couple

10%

Federal benchmark

Child Care Aware of America, 2024; benchmark from the U.S. Department of Labor.^1,2

02The evidence

Public child care pays for itself in working parents. Québec's universal low-fee program put about 70,000 more mothers to work by 2008, a 3.8% rise in women's employment, and economists estimate the taxes those parents paid returned more than the program cost.¹⁰

The returns last a lifetime. Nobel laureate James Heckman's team estimated a 13% annual return on comprehensive birth-to-five programs, through better health, earnings and education and lower crime.¹⁴

The U.S. is an outlier. Public spending on child care and early education is about 0.3% of GDP, against an OECD average near 0.7%.^9,16 Where the public does not invest, care becomes a product: the largest chain, KinderCare, is majority-owned by a Swiss private equity firm.⁸

03The plan

The Child Care for Working Families Act was reintroduced on July 15, 2025 by Rep. Bobby Scott (H.R. 4418) and Sen. Patty Murray (S. 2295), with more than 100 House and 40 Senate supporters.^11,12 According to its sponsors, it would:

Provision	What it does
A 7% cap	No eligible family pays more than 7% of income for child care.
Free for most families	Families earning below 85% of state median income pay nothing.
About $15 a day	The typical family at the state median income pays about $15 a day.
Teacher-level pay	Child care workers earn a living wage, with parity with elementary school teachers of similar credentials.
Universal pre-K	Funding for states to build mixed-delivery preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, starting in high-need communities.
Full-day Head Start	Funding for full-day, full-year Head Start and higher wages for its staff.
New supply	Grants to open providers in child care deserts, cover start-up and licensing costs, and expand care during nontraditional hours.

A state has already done it. On November 1, 2025, New Mexico became the first state to offer free child care regardless of income. The state estimates families save about $12,000 per child each year.¹³

04Who benefits and who pays

Who benefits

Parents, above all single parents, who now spend about a third of median income on care for one child.¹
Child care workers, whose pay would rise toward that of elementary school teachers.¹¹
Employers, who lose workers to late arrivals, early departures and quitting; ReadyNation puts the cost to businesses and the economy at $122 billion a year.⁶
Children, especially in rural areas and child care deserts, who would have a guaranteed place.³

Who pays

The public, through federal funding to states, in place of the full price families pay now.¹¹
In exchange for a return. Heckman's research and Québec's experience suggest much of the cost comes back in earnings and tax revenue.^10,14
Investor-owned chains would compete for public dollars under rules that put money into wages and quality.

05What lawmakers can do

Cosponsor H.R. 4418 or S. 2295 and say so publicly.
Fund supply first in deserts, including home-based providers and night and weekend care.³
Tie public dollars to wages, so funding reaches educators instead of shareholders.
Copy New Mexico at the state level: drop income limits and waive copays.¹³
Use the toolkit for a model resolution and answers to the objections you will hear.

Notes

The Constituent Institute · constituentinstitute.org/universal-child-care-brief Funded by people, not corporations. Free to copy and share.