Common Start Coalition Responds to UMass Boston Research on Cost and Impact of Comprehensive Child Care Legislation
New Report on Common Start Bills Finds That Expanding Access to Child Care Financial Assistance for Families Would Cost $1.7 Billion And Would Reduce Childhood Poverty, Greatly Increase the Number of Women in the Workforce, and Ensure More Children Receive High-Quality Early Education
BOSTON – A new report on the comprehensive Common Start early education and child care legislation, which is backed by large majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, was released today by the UMass Boston Early Education CUSP (Cost and Usage Simulator Project). Specifically, the report looks at that the affordability provisions of the bills, which would initially expand eligibility for child care financial assistance to families with incomes up to 85 percent of the state median family income ($115,546 for a family of 4, or $78,571 for a family of 2).
The report finds that nearly half of all Massachusetts families with children under 14 (or under 17 with special needs) would be eligible for financial assistance under the bills (H.489 & S.301), and that this expansion of child care financial assistance would cost the state $1.7 billion. For eligible families, the percentage of their family income going to child care would be reduced from an average of 17.2% to an average of 4.3%. The average affected family would save $13,260 per year.
With financial assistance provided for quality child care and early education, 10,400 mothers would enter or re-enter the workforce, and 21,000 currently employed parents would increase the number of hours they work. As a result, the overall family poverty rate would fall from 15.5% to 14.1%.
“This report confirms that solving the child care crisis in Massachusetts is both achievable and necessary. Previous research has found that Massachusetts loses $2.7 billion each year due to inadequate access to child care; we can’t afford not to act," said Deb Fastino, Executive Director of the Coalition for Social Justice and Director of the 160+ member Common Start Coalition. "This new research finds that expanding access to child care financial assistance for families, as envisioned in the Common Start bills, would reduce childhood poverty, greatly increase the number of women in the workforce, and ensure that many more children receive high-quality early education to prepare them for a successful transition to K-12 school."
“Ensuring that all families have access to affordable, high-quality early education and child care will require significant investments over the course of several years, but it's clear that those investments ultimately pay for themselves and have a very high return on investment," said Andrew Farnitano, a Boston parent and spokesperson for the Common Start Coalition. “For Massachusetts to address our competitive challenges and become a more affordable state for families and businesses, we must do much more to reduce the cost of high-quality child care for families. Now is the time to pass comprehensive early education and childcare legislation, and put Massachusetts on the path to solving the childcare crisis.”
The report concludes that “financial assistance would effectively enable more children access to licensed care as well as substantially reduce the cost burden on families. Additionally, because parents would be able to afford reliable care, a portion of them, especially mothers of young children, would be able to engage in more employment opportunities. The additional earnings will lift some families, especially single-parent families, out of poverty.”
Background on the Common Start Bills
The Common Start Coalition, a diverse group of more than 160 organizations leading the campaign on Beacon Hill to address the multi-faceted early education and child care crisis, supports H.489 (filed by Representatives Gordon & Madaro) & S.301 (filed by Senators Lewis & Moran), two bills that would establish a system of affordable, accessible, and high-quality early education and child care for Massachusetts families, and help advance the Common Start vision in Massachusetts.
The bills, which are now co-sponsored by a majority of legislators in both the State House of Representatives (102 legislators) and the State Senate (28 legislators), would provide the specific structure that is needed to deliver affordable care options for families; significantly better pay and benefits for early educators; a new, stable source of funding for providers; high-quality programs and services for children; and substantial relief for businesses and our economy.
Under the bills, programs would be available in early education and child care centers, private homes, and schools – the same settings where early education and child care is provided now. The bills affect early education and care for children from birth through age 5, as well as after- and out-of-school time for children ages 5-12, and for children with special needs through age 15 – in line with the ages covered by the current child care subsidy system.
The Common Start legislative framework uses a combination of direct-to-provider operational funding and family financial assistance to reduce costs to families while compensating providers for the true cost of providing quality care.
Operational Funding: The bills would permanently establish a direct-to-provider funding allocation based on provider capacity (not attendance) that directly offsets provider operating costs, including higher educator pay – similar to the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) program.
Family Financial Assistance: The bills would provide financial assistance to enable more families to afford and access high-quality early education. They prioritize families earning at or below 85% of state median income ($115,546 for a family of 4, or $78,571 for a family of 2) and, as funding becomes available, would extend eligibility for financial assistance to middle-income families.
Background on the Common Start Coalition’s Campaign to Address the Child Care Crisis
Since 2018, the Common Start Coalition has been steadily building a broad-based coalition to advocate for affordable, accessible, high-quality early education and child care. During the 2021-2022 legislative session, the coalition developed the comprehensive Common Start legislative framework that would help children, families, educators, providers, and businesses, and signed up a majority of legislators as cosponsors. In the spring of 2022, the coalition’s vision was reflected in a major report written by the state’s Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission and in legislation approved by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education.
The Senate passed its version of the Education Committee bill unanimously in the final days of the 2021-2022 legislative session, and while the bill did not receive a vote in the House, a majority of state representatives are on record supporting the Common Start framework. Additionally, state leaders have made a major down payment on the coalition’s vision over the past few years, including $1.5 billion for early education and child care in the FY24 budget.
A recent report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation found that the state loses $2.7 billion each year due to inadequate access to child care, including $1.7 billion in lost earnings for employees, $812 million in additional costs and lower productivity for employers, and $188 in lower tax revenues for the state. The Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission found that public funding is necessary if Massachusetts is to offer children an equal education, families affordable care, providers a sustainable business model, and educators a competitive living wage. As the Legislative Commission report says, immediate funding is needed now, as well as in the long term, to ensure that providers can keep their programs open and pay wages sufficient to keep educators in their classrooms.
Public support for state investment in early education and child care is strong, and has increased significantly amid the child care crisis. A statewide poll of Massachusetts voters, conducted in December on behalf of the Common Start Coalition, found 73% support for the Common Start proposal, with only 18% of voters opposing it. Support was up nearly 10 points from two years earlier, when the corresponding margin on this question was 64%-23%.
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The Common Start Coalition is a statewide partnership of organizations, providers, parents, early educators and advocates working together to make high-quality early education and child care affordable and accessible to all Massachusetts families. Our goal is to ensure that all families have the care solutions they need and that all children in our Commonwealth have the same, strong start and enter school on a level playing field. We are a diverse coalition including community, faith-based, labor, business, and early education and child care organizations, as well as early educators, parents, individuals, and direct service organizations.
The coalition, established in 2018, includes more than 160 organizations across Massachusetts, and is coordinated by a steering committee comprised of the following members: CEO Action for Racial Equity, the Coalition for Social Justice, Greater Boston Legal Services, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA), Jumpstart for Young Children, the MA Association of Early Education and Care (MADCA), the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children (MAAEYC), the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, the MA Commission on the Status of Women, Neighborhood Villages, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, SEIU Local 509, and Strategies for Children. More than 3,000 individual parents, caregivers, early educators, center administrators, business owners, and family child care providers are active members of the Common Start Coalition. More information about the coalition is available at commonstartma.org.