To increase the quality and supply of child care and lower child care costs for families.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Scott of Virginia (for himself, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Child Care for Working Families Act creates a comprehensive federal child care and early learning system. It establishes an entitlement program providing subsidized child care for all children under age 6, creates universal free preschool for 3-4 year olds, and expands Head Start to full-day/full-year programs. The bill aims to make child care affordable for working families while significantly raising wages for early childhood educators.
Who Benefits and How
Working families with young children benefit most directly, with sliding-scale subsidies that eliminate costs entirely for families earning below 85% of state median income, and cap costs at 7% of income for higher earners. Child care providers and early childhood educators receive substantial new funding through $54 billion in BASE grants (FY2026-2031) for provider stability, with mandated living wages and pay parity with elementary school teachers. Head Start agencies receive $6.5+ billion for extended hours plus $2.7 billion annually for wage parity. Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations receive dedicated funding streams ($2.5B for preschool). Small and nonprofit child care providers receive priority for grants over large corporate chains. Family child care providers get technical assistance and pathways to licensure.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers face massive new mandatory spending, with "such sums as necessary" appropriations that could total hundreds of billions over the 6-year period. State governments must maintain existing early childhood spending levels and increase their share of preschool costs from 10% (FY2026) to 40% (FY2031). Large corporate child care chains serving 5,000+ children face enhanced reporting requirements and lower priority for grants. Child care providers not meeting quality standards must improve within 3.5 years to remain eligible. Unlicensed family child care providers must obtain state licensure to participate.
Key Provisions
- Creates federal child care entitlement for children under 6, with no copayment for families under 85% of state median income
- Mandates child care workers receive living wages with pay equivalent to elementary school educators
- Requires 70% of provider grants be spent on personnel costs (wages, benefits)
- Establishes universal free preschool for all 3-4 year olds with 90% federal funding initially, declining to 60%
- Expands Head Start to full-day, full-year programming with $4.8+ billion in new appropriations
- Creates $54 billion (FY2026-2031) in BASE grants to stabilize child care providers
- Prioritizes small, nonprofit, and community-based providers over large corporate chains
- Prohibits suspension and expulsion of children in funded programs
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Creates a comprehensive federal child care and early learning system including entitlement programs for children under 6, provider grants, universal preschool, and extended Head Start.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Create entitlement-based child care system with sliding-scale copays, mandate living wages for child care workers, and establish universal preschool through federal-state cost sharing"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Working families with children under 6 (subsidized child care with capped copays)
- Child care workers (mandated living wage and wage parity with elementary educators)
- Child care providers (stable BASE grant funding, higher reimbursement rates)
- Head Start agencies (extended duration grants, wage appropriations)
- Low-income families (no copays for families under 85% of state median income)
- Children with disabilities (inclusive care requirements, priority access)
- Family child care providers (technical assistance, pathway to licensure)
- Infants and toddlers (priority for care expansion)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Federal taxpayers (major new mandatory spending, 'such sums as necessary' appropriations)
- State governments (matching requirements, new administrative obligations)
- Large child care chains serving >5000 children (reporting requirements on corporate relationships)
- Child care providers not meeting quality tiers (must improve to receive full funding)
- Unlicensed family child care providers (must obtain licensure within 3.5 years)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "lead_agency"
- → State-designated agency to administer child care program
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "lead_agency"
- → State-designated lead agency
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "secretary_of_education"
- → Secretary of Education (collaborative approval role)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Provider eligible under CCDBG Act or under Title I
Child age 3 or 4 on date established for kindergarten entry
LEA, Head Start agency, licensed child care center, family child care provider, or consortium
Activities including employment, job search, education, health treatment, family violence prevention, workforce training, and FMLA leave
A child under age 6, not yet in kindergarten, who resides with parents participating in eligible activities or is in a vulnerable population
Licensed center-based or family child care provider participating in state tiered quality system
Care where percentage of children with disabilities reflects state prevalence and provides full participation alongside children without disabilities
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology