Free Child Care For Texan Food Service Workers
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This past October, Texas launched the Service Industry Recovery Child Care program, designed to provide childcare providers with funding on behalf of eligible working parents. According to the guidelines, the program beneficiaries must either be a single parent working at least 25 hours per week, or a two-person household working a combined 50 hours per week. Workers must earn an income less than 75% of the state median and must be employed in a food service industry, including but not limited to grocery stores, full-service restaurants, and bars.
Despite a somewhat low-key launch, more than 11,000 Texan children are currently receiving care courtesy of the new program, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. The program is considered to be a massive win for Texan families, who had previously relied on nonprofit charity programs for childcare assistance. While any and all help has always been welcomed, support from a mainstream government institution has been a game-changer for many Texan households.
The food service industry is notoriously inhospitable for working parents, often devoid of the paid time off needed for sudden emergencies such as caring for a sick child. The new state program arrives not a minute too soon, as the costs of childcare continue to rise exponentially across the state. Some estimates report a 41% increase in the price of “high-quality” child care since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some parents paying more than $14,000 a year in childcare fees. This staggering expense is only exacerbated by steadily rising inflation, affecting everything from food to fuel to housing.
Amid these ongoing challenges, many feel the new program is the least the state can do to help keep struggling families afloat. The general consensus is one of failure, on behalf of Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature. From the premature burial of COVID-19 restrictions to severing unemployment benefits as the pandemic continued to rage, state governance has left many feeling abandoned and betrayed in their most desperate hour of need.
While the timing of the program’s launch feels particularly prudent, subsidized child care is a commonsense approach that should have been implemented long before a global health crisis swept the world. Hindsight is 2020, of course—both literally and figuratively speaking—but it should not have taken the pressures of a pandemic to bring about this kind of support. According to a study from the Brookings Institute, a federal child care subsidy for all American families would come with a price tag of around $42 billion. This may seem to be a hefty sum, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the government’s $6.8 trillion budget.
In terms of efficacy, skeptics need look no further than the sweeping success of the Advance Child Tax Credit for proof that such programs create a long-lasting, meaningful impact. Since its implementation, the policy has proven highly effective at reducing the number of children living below the poverty line, with long-term impacts expected to improve the social mobility of marginalized families nationwide. It should come as no surprise that investing in families can create life-changing outcomes, and while many Texans are frustrated that the program did not come sooner, most are thankful to find that help has finally arrived. Amid the slew of social controversies stemming from the Texas state government in recent months, a move which puts the people first is a rare but welcome silver lining.
