Child Care Assistance Helps Families Work: A Review of the Effects of Subsidy Receipt on Employment


 

Publication Date: April 2006

Publisher: Center for Law and Social Policy

Author(s): Hannah Matthews

Research Area: Social conditions

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Reliable and stable child care helps parents retain steady employment and reduces workplace absenteeism, but the high costs of care challenge many families, particularly low-income working parents. Child care assistance can help.

This policy brief reviews relevant research and finds that low-income mothers who receive child care subsidies are more likely to be employed, to stay off welfare, and to have higher earnings. For that reason, increasing investments in child care assistance is necessary to help families move from welfare to work and to help low-income parents continue working.