If you have kids, you know how expensive they can be. That’s why according to a poll from the First Five Years Fund, more than a quarter of Louisianans say they’re delaying starting a family. The group’s executive director, Sarah Ritting, says the poll shows that more than four out of every five say finding affordable child care is a crisis or a major problem.
“There’s not enough child care, and the child care that is out there is just too, too expensive; and families want options,” Ritting noted.
Ritting says this is an issue that crosses ideological lines – 90% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 82% of independents say it’s a serious concern.
There is agreement that it’s a problem that needs a solution, and that is something that congress needs to address,” Ritting said.
Ritting says this problem will require a multi-faceted solution – one component of which is tax credits so that working parents can keep more of their income that they can use for child care.
“We just had an increase in the child care tax credits that go to families out of the federal government; the child dependent care tax credit was increased, so families will keep some more of their own money in their pockets,” Ritting explained.