Raja Krishnamoorthi on Families & Children

Affordable, quality child care is a smart investment

So, why should this be a concern for the government in Washington? Why not just let parents fend for themselves? The answer is that quality child care is important for the children who benefit from it. It's also critical to enabling more Americans to participate in our workforce, improving their own economic standing and our country's competitiveness as a whole.

Studies show that affordable, quality child care is a smart investment with long term positive effects on a child's education, health, drug and alcohol use, and other social behavior well into adulthood.

According to some research, it returns $8 in benefits for every $1 invested. It is universally accepted today that ensuring a child's preparedness to enter kindergarten is a critical step for their future success in school.