| Nearly two-thirds of mothers with children younger than six work outside the home and child care has become an increasingly important public policy issue. But many families - especially low-income families - have trouble finding affordable, high quality child care. Each week, countless numbers of children spend time in inadequate, or even dangerous, child care settings. Millions of children are left unsupervised after school because their parents can not find after-school care. The federal government helps states provide child care assistance to working families through the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which was established in 1990. About two million children and their families receive help paying for child care through the CCDBG. States can also help families pay for child care with funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. But federal funding falls far short of need. Only one out of seven children eligible for federal child care help receives it. Hundreds of thousands of families are on waiting lists for child care subsidies. Center for Law and Social Policy
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Children's Defense Fund
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Women's Law Center
Parents' Action for Children
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