For Week 4 of our monthlong celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re focusing on child care assistance in Mississippi.
Child care assistance programs make a huge positive difference for low-income working parents. Families who participate in the Child Care Payment Program (CCDF vouchers), Head Start or Early Head Start and those who are able to enroll their children in public Pre-Kindergarten programs greatly benefit from this critical support, which increases stability both at home and work.
The problem is that public programs in Mississippi are drastically limited and serve only fractions of eligible families.
Low-income families with children aged 5 and under can receive support through Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers, through Head Start and through public Pre-K. But when we add up all of the children ages birth to 5 served by these programs (using the most recent data for each) and compare this figure to the total number of low-income children in the same age group, it shows us that 7 in 10 low-income children in Mississippi who are eligible for one or more of these programs remain UNSERVED.
Low-income families with children between the ages of 6 and 12 have even fewer options because of age cut-offs in other programs, leaving them with the state’s Child Care Payment Program, which provides CCDF child care vouchers that reimburse a portion of child care costs.
When we compare the average monthly number of children served by CCDF in this age group to the total number of low-income children in this age group, only 5% or 1 in 20 eligible children between the ages of 6 and 12 are served by CCDF.
These programs are critical for low-income working parents, and particularly single mothers.
MLICCI is pushing the state to prioritize child care assistance at a higher level when deciding how to spend funds meant to support single moms below poverty, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Earnings Vary Greatly by Family Type and Single Moms with Children Earn the Least
Low-income single moms stand to gain the most from increased support for child care assistance programs.
Women are More Concentrated in Low-Wage Work
High Cost of Child Care
Because child care assistance is drastically limited, many eligible families pay a higher portion of their income on that expense alone and when compounded with rent, transportation and basic necessities, some families struggle to stay above water.
Single moms with kids under 18 see the biggest impact from child care costs.
Child Care is a Proven Work Support
- Welfare recipients are 82% more likely to be working two years after leaving welfare IF they also received child care assistance subsidy (CLASP, 2006)
- Single mothers receiving child care assistance are more likely to be employed full-time than single moms not receiving assistance (CLASP, 2006)
Policy Solutions to Help Single Moms
- Spend more TANF on child care
- Increase Minimum Wage
- Close Gender Pay Gap
- Make Workforce Training Leading to Higher Paying Jobs Accessible to Single Moms
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