Childcare is becoming increasingly unaffordable for working families in New Jersey, forcing some parents to spend 20% to 30% of their income. Others have quit their job or dropped to part-time to stay home with their children.
The Murphy Administration has invested $1 billion to improve childcare access since 2018, and new research reveals an area where the state could make an even bigger impact. A report by the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, a member of the First 1,000 Days Policy Coalition, reveals that changing the income requirement for childcare subsidies would help tens of thousands of working parents who are struggling to make ends meet.
“In New Jersey, a single mom with one child must earn less than $34,840 in order to qualify for subsidies,” said Becky Logue-Conroy, a research analyst at the Rutgers Center for Women and Work and one of the report’s authors. “But if we adopted the federal rule, that same mom could earn up to $74,317 and still receive subsidies. In a state where single moms spend nearly a third of their income on childcare, that’s an enormous difference.”
As part of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, states receive federal funding to help low-income working families pay for childcare, and each state has the flexibility to determine its own income threshold and work or education requirements. Despite having the third-highest cost of living, New Jersey is stricter than most states when it comes to awarding subsidies. To read the full story.