Child care helps children, families, and communities prosper. It gives children the opportunity to learn and develop skills they need to succeed in school and in life. It gives parents the support and peace of mind they need to be productive at work. And, by strengthening the current and future workforce, it helps our nation’s economy. Yet many families, particularly low-income families, struggle to afford child care.

  • Families in 32 states were better off in February 2015 than in February 2014 under one or more child care assistance policies.
  • Families in 16 states were worse off under one or more of these policies.
  • Fourteen states reported they had made or expected to make improvements in one or more of the policies covered in this report after February 2015.

For information on individual states, view our state by state child care assistance policies fact sheets.