Proposed Ohio childcare assistance doesn't go far enough, report finds
Posted February 27, 2015 in Press Releases
Low-wage families need more childcare assistance to work and climb the earnings ladder
For immediate release
Contact: Wendy Patton, 614.221.4505
Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal would slightly improve Ohio’s childcare assistance program, which has some of the most stringent eligibility standards in the nation. But much more needs to be done to support low-wage families and help employers maintain a reliable, skilled workforce, Policy Matters Ohio says in a new report. The executive budget proposal for 2016-17 would ease the childcare “cliff,” which is the loss of childcare aid for a family at 200 percent of the poverty level (about $40,000 a year for a parent with two children). The “cliff” means that a parent who gets a $1 an hour raise may be thrust above the eligibility ceiling, even though the raise is not nearly enough to pay the steep cost of childcare. The average cost of childcare for a preschooler and school-age child in Cuyahoga County was $1,602 a month in 2013