By LaDon Love
(WIB) – When I hear “Family Friendly D.C.” rhetoric, I expect policies that make these words a reality. I expect policymakers to demonstrate the values they espouse in tangible ways; ways that help babies, toddlers, and their families thrive. Here’s the thing: thriving isn’t automatic. It doesn’t happen merely because we say we want it. For children to thrive, their parents, caregivers, and early childcare educators must thrive. This can only happen with policy.
That’s why I work so hard at SPACEs in Action (SIA). SIA is a D.C. multicultural base-building, membership organization. Our campaigns include expanding early childhood learning opportunities, improving access to health equity, and advancing racial and economic dignity for Black, Latine, and immigrant communities.
My love for children and family fuels my advocacy. It’s why I recently testified before D.C. City Council, where I urged local officials to fully fund the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Pay Equity Fund. It’s why I urged elected leaders to reject harmful proposals — such as cuts to reimbursements and a waitlist for the child care subsidy program — that would destabilize our early childhood system.
Proposed Changes to D.C. Child Care Programs
By way of background, Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed instituting a waitlist for the child care subsidy program and cutting reimbursement rates to providers. At the same time, the Pay Equity Fund, which provides wage supplements and health care support to early educators, is underfunded, resulting in a 5% pay cut for educators.
To be clear, these are not cost-saving measures. They undercut D.C.’s workforce, families, and small businesses. Moreover, what happens in the District of Columbia reverberates across the nation. That’s why we should all be paying attention.
The High Cost of Child Care
D.C. has the highest child care costs in the nation. Infant care averages more than $23,000 per year. For our lowest-income residents, who, due to systemic racism, tend to disproportionately Black and brown, child care can consume up to 32% of an individual’s annual income. The subsidy program ensures families pay no more than 7% of their income, as found in the DCFPI report titled “Proposed Child Care Subsidy Waitlist Could Leave District Parents and Providers Paying the Price.” Without access to the child care subsidy, parents will likely reduce hours, decline promotions, or leave the workforce entirely.
Impossible Choices for Families
Moreover, a waitlist would force families into impossible choices: rent or child care; food or child care; work or education. Or even, stability or survival. It would also create instability for children who need the foundations for academic success laid early and often. For providers who depend on predictable enrollment to keep their doors open, a waitlist would mean some reduce staff or close up shop.
Providers Already Operating Below the True Cost
At the same time, cutting reimbursement rates ignores the “true cost of care” model required under the Birth-to-Three for All D.C. Amendment Act of 2018. Current rates are already 14 to 45% below the actual cost of providing care in most settings, according to a recent DCFPI fact sheet titled “Cutting Reimbursement Rates in the DC Child Care Subsidy Program Would Cripple Budgets and Force Classrooms to Close.” Child care is a fixed-cost business. Staffing, rent, and utilities do not shrink when funding is cut. Rate cuts of 2–8% will lead to classroom closures, staff layoffs and departures, and tuition hikes for families.
Why the Pay Equity Fund Matters
In other words, the Pay Equity Fund is not a luxury. It is the backbone of workforce stability. Early educators, primarily Black and brown women, have historically been underpaid despite doing some of the most important work in our economy. When we invest in wage supplements and health care, we reduce turnover, improve quality, and stabilize small businesses across the District. We also ensure that families have accessible care from people they know and trust. When the Pay Equity Fund is cut, skilled educators are pushed out of the field and families are left to fend for themselves.
A Better Path Forward
For the sake of children, families, and providers in D.C., the solution is not cutting access. It is creating sustainable revenue. Dedicated, progressive revenue sources, whether through tax reforms or closing inequitable loopholes, are the most responsible way to fund both the subsidy program and the Pay Equity Fund.
It’s time policymakers understand and appreciate that child care is important to us all. It is economic infrastructure, driving workforce participation, business productivity, and long-term economic growth.
Divesting now will undo years of progress. Rebuilding later will cost far more.
LaDon Love is executive director of SPACEs in Action, a mother, and an advocate.