TANF and Early Childhood

As Congress considers taking up welfare reform, the critical importance of child care for working parents of young children must be clearly understood and reflected in reform efforts. For many working families, child care is not a luxury, it is a basic necessity, and often an expensive one. In fact, in families with young children, child care costs are often one of the largest items in the household budget. Historically, America’s child care and welfare programs have had a complicated relationship. Read more about the key child care issues for policymakers to consider as a part of any welfare reform here.

BPC also looked at how each state spent its federal and state TANF funding to better understand how TANF is being used to support child care activities. Learn more about spending in each state at the links below: