A lack of child care is keeping women on unemployment rolls

A lack of safe and affordable child care amid the coronavirus pandemic is keeping many working parents from returning to the office as more companies call employees back to their jobs — threatening to extend the economic crisis and erode decades of gains for women in the workplace.

It's a level of investment that would be significantly higher than what Congress has previously considered: The CARES Act appropriated $3.5 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants, as well as $750 million for the Head Start program. The HEROES Act, the House-passed Democratic proposal for the next round of aid, would appropriate $7 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants.

"We know that's not enough," Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), a co-sponsor of the bill, said. "We need to stabilize the child care system or we won't have a robust economic recovery."