Ohio Has a Chance to Make Child Care Affordable for Working Families
- Ohio Kids First
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Working families across Ohio are struggling. Grocery prices, rent increases and child care costs are crushing them. Ohio lawmakers can do something to help. But families need to put the pressure on them to do so.
In his two-year state budget, Gov. Mike DeWine has proposed giving families with children under age 7 up to a $1,000 refundable tax credit. The new tax break would put money in families’ pockets, making work pay.
Take, for example, a full-time preschool teacher earning the median hourly wage of $14.20 per hour in Akron. Her annual income is $29,536, meaning she earns just under 150% of the Federal Poverty Level for a two-person household. With one child, she’d get the full $1,000 credit — effectively a 4% raise, which could pay for about three months of groceries.
Consider another hypothetical family — say, a married couple who recently had their first child. Assume mom is staying home with the newborn, while dad is working two jobs. The first job is part-time at a coffee shop, where dad works 20 hours a week earning the median salary of $11.47 per hour in Akron. His second job is at a fast-food restaurant, where he only gets 10 hours per week at $11.09 per hour. That family’s total household income is $17,696 — 66% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Because they don’t earn at least $22,500 annually, they’d only qualify for about a $760 child tax refund under the governor’s proposal. But, again, this represents about a 4% increase in their income — a big raise considering the family’s financial needs.
DeWine’s partially refundable tax credit is intentionally designed to reward work and to reach low- and middle-income working families who need it most.
If you think supporting families is good public policy, you are not alone. A staggering 84% of Ohio voters support a child tax credit, including 83% of Republicans, 94% of Democrats and 78% of Independents. President Donald Trump has supported the idea of federal child tax credits.
Many parents choose not to work because the cost of child care takes the bulk of their paycheck (assuming they can even find quality child care). DeWine’s proposed budget would also address that frustrating reality. He’s asking lawmakers to raise the eligibility for receiving subsidized child care to families earning 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. A family of four earning under $60,000 annually would be eligible for sliding-scale assistance.
Why is making child care affordable so critical to families, employers and Ohio’s economy? According to our independently conducted, scientific poll of Ohioans, nearly half of working parents have cut back their hours due to child care challenges. That’s a million Ohio working parents reducing their hours at a time when our employers are desperate to hire and keep employees.
Among mothers with young children under age 3 who don’t currently work full- time, 61% say they would return to work if they had access to affordable, high-quality child care.
Ohio’s working families deserve a break, and they need affordable child care. They want to work. They want to provide for their children, pay their bills on time, save for the future and contribute to their communities. But they can’t do those things if work doesn’t pay.
Ohio’s next two-year budget will be decided in the next 100 days. If you believe that working families deserve better, join us in sharing that message with state lawmakers. Go to groundworkohio.org/act and join thousands of Ohioans who are raising their voice in favor of a child tax credit and expanding access to affordable child care.
Comments