Moran on Universal Childcare in Massachusetts - WBSM
By Marcus Ferro
Massachusetts currently ranks second in the country in childcare costs, clocking in at a whopping $20,913 per year and accounting for 22.7 percent of the median family income in the Commonwealth, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The exorbitant cost of infant care makes it a financially untenable proposition for 95 percent of Massachusetts households.
During a time when the COVID-19's economic fallout has had a particularly devastating impact on women, who have left the workforce in droves to assume greater childcare duties imposed on them by the pandemic, working-class families' access to childcare is not only desirable but necessary for a full economic recovery.
Enter Massachusetts Senator Susan Moran, who has recently co-sponsored and filed the Common Start legislation, an ambitious legislative package that seeks to allow access to fundamental childcare services for every family in the Commonwealth, provide much-needed relief to child care providers who are struggling mightily during the pandemic, and establishes other critical supports that will allow for greater economic opportunity for working-class households.