Child care may get more affordable for low-income families

Child care costs put a squeeze on all families, but low-income families are particularly hard hit in a high-cost-of-living state like California.

That’s why state lawmakers and the governor have been waiving the family fees paid for subsidized child care during the pandemic. The Affordable Child Care Family Fees Act, which has passed the Legislature and is headed to the governor’s desk, would mandate a sliding scale for low-income families. 

Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes’ bill would prohibit family fees from exceeding 1% of the family’s monthly income and prevent a family with a monthly income below 75% of the state median from being assessed any family fee. The San Bernardino Democrat’s Assembly Bill 92 also temporarily waives family fees for all families through 2023.

Many advocates see affordable child care as an issue of equity that California cannot ignore.

“If we espouse the state being a safe place for women,” said Mary Ignatius, statewide organizer of Parent Voices, a California parent advocacy group, “then it should be about reproductive and economic and social justice for women, which includes signing AB 92.”