Emily Tseffos Understands the Need for Childcare

We Need Affordable Childcare

Emily Tseffos , who is running to become the state representative from Wisconsin District 56, understands that we desperately need affordable child care in Wisconsin, and that is why she supports Gov. Evers proposal to use state funds to extend Childcare Counts in 2024.  Unless the federal program is extended, it will disappear next year, and that would be a tragedy because, as a recent Post-Crescent article says,

Childcare is already unaffordable for most Wisconsin families. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers child care affordable if it takes 7% or less of a household's income, all children included. Brooke Skidmore, owner and director of New Glarus' The Growing Tree Child Care Center and WECAN co-founder, said that many families devote 20% to 40% of their household income for one child alone.

Extending Childcare Counts a beginning, but by itself, it is not nearly enough to meet our state’s need for affordable childcare. If she is elected, Emily Tseffos will make expanding the availability of affordable childcare an important priority.

Why is it so important to invest our state’s money in affordable childcare?

Childcare is Infrastructure

Emily says that the easiest way to think about this issue is to think of child care as a kind of infrastructure.  We build roads and airports, and we support public schools and universities as infrastructure investments. We do that because we know that the free market would not provide these things even though our economy needs them.  Our economy also needs workers, and studies have shown that many women would take jobs if they could find affordable childcare.

Unfortunately, the market cannot provide childcare at a price that is affordable, that allows childcare workers to be paid a decent wage and that allows childcare companies to make a profit. So, we should think of childcare as a kind of infrastructure, and we should provide it just as we provide roads or public schools in order to help our economy to grow. Many of our businesses would like to expand, but they cannot do so because they cannot hire the workers they need. By expanding the pool of available workers, an investment in affordable childcare would help our economy to grow and thus would benefit our entire community.

Take Action Now

If you agree with Emily Tseffos that providing affordable childcare is important, there are two things that you should do:

• Right now, you should call your state legislators in Madison and tell them that you support the effort to extend Childcare Counts in 2024.
• Next year, if you live in District 56, you should vote for Emily Tseffos to represent District 56 in Madison.

·     

·