Speaker Nancy Pelosi Talks Child Care At Tufts
MEDFORD (CBS/AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent Friday fielding questions from students, child care providers and community leaders about accessible child care and women in the workforce.
House Democrats argue that what they describe as quality, affordable child care is as important to the economy as roads and bridges.
"When women succeed, America succeeds," Pelosi told the group, which gathered at Tufts University.
U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark, Lori Trahan and Ayanna Pressley, all Massachusetts Democrats, joined Pelosi to meet with early education advocates and discuss the need for affordable child care and policies aimed at increasing child care accessibility.
The women presented some staggering statistics: Massachusetts is second in the nation for child care costs; child care in Massachusetts can cost as much as in-state tuition; only one in five Massachusetts families can afford child care when using the standard that families should spend no more than 7% of their income on child care; and only 1 in 6 children eligible for child care subsidies actually get one.
Both Pelosi and Pressley expressed frustration with Republicans making budget cuts to educational programs, especially after tax cuts a Republican-led Congress passed in 2017.
Pelosi said Republican suggestions of cutting education funding are "one of the dumbest suggestions they could make." Pelosi added, "Nothing brings more money into the treasury than investment in education."
However, Pressley said she felt proposed cuts were not a financial deficit but an "empathy deficit," citing tax cuts and space force proposals as evidence.
"These issues for families are so important," Clark said of child care and early education. "The data's all there. We know what a difference it makes."
Among the issues discussed were access to early childhood programs such as Head Start, low salaries for preschool teachers, high student debt and lack of child care options for people who work non-traditional hours. The women also discussed the struggle women have to stay in the workforce after starting a family, in part, because of the high cost of child care.
Trahan said she sees people "check out" of the workforce in their 30s when they have to make choices between their corporate jobs and their families.
"This is a shared responsibility," Trahan said. "I mean the joy of child care is a shared responsibility."
Pressley said efforts to support child care should also include home-based child cares, which are often businesses owned by women, immigrants and people of color and support low-income families and families of color. She said that child care often helps families maintain their stability.
"The best gift you can give a child is a stable parent," Pressley said.
"Child care. Children learning. Parents earning. It's all central to their well-being," Pelosi said.
The California Democrat also toured the Eliot-Pearson Children's School at Tufts University in Medford on Friday and hear about the school's approach to early childhood education research.
The Eliot-Pearson Children's School serves as a demonstration facility, providing a training and observation site for new and experienced teachers and a research facility for faculty and supervised students.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
