Access to reliable and affordable childcare is a challenge for many parents in New Jersey. The size of the subsidy parents are eligible for varies depending on factors including income and the number of children they have.
Sherene Williamson’s struggle to afford childcare as a single parent led her to open an in-home daycare in Orange. She has worked with families who earn too much to qualify for childcare subsidies but not enough to afford the typical hourly rates for care. In response, she has offered discounts and, in some cases, provided free childcare. But she is now behind on her mortgage payments and struggling to meet the basic needs of her own family.
A new report co-authored by Becky Logue-Conroy, a research analyst at the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, underscores the potential benefits of adjusting income eligibility for childcare subsidies in New Jersey, a change that could help tens of thousands of working parents struggling to afford the high costs of childcare. Along with Debra Lancaster, executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, she highlights a key issue: Many families earn too much to qualify for subsidies but not enough to cover the steep costs of care.
That’s why Logue-Conroy and Lancaster support legislation sponsored by Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) that would change the income eligibility to qualify for subsidies in New Jersey, from the current 200% of the federal poverty level, to 300%.
This report is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
