As the Trump administration considers redirecting federal childcare subsidies to married couples with a stay-at-home parent, Washington University in St. Louis sociologist Caitlyn Collins said the proposal misses a more fundamental problem: Millions of working parents still struggle to find affordable childcare.
“Expanding financial support for families is an important goal,” said Collins, an associate professor of sociology in WashU Arts & Sciences and author of the 2019 book “Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving” (Princeton University Press).
“Unfortunately, this proposal does not meaningfully address the underlying challenges in the market — specifically, the lack of affordable childcare options — or reflect what parents say they need.”
Collins’ assessment is informed by more than two years of research with Chloe Gibbs, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. They have interviewed more than 75 parents about how they navigate the childcare system and what kinds of support would make it easier to manage work and family.
Parents consistently told the researchers that childcare is difficult to find and that existing options...