Congratulations, You’ve Won the Child Care Lottery
For families in Vermont, the too-good-to-be-true cost break in child care is here. Not everyone can believe it.
Teigue Linch remembers the email she got from Pine Forest, her daughters’ child care center in Burlington, Vermont. There was a new law in Vermont - Act 76 - that would help families pay child care costs. All families, even those at higher income levels, were encouraged to apply.
But child care assistance for many families has become something like the tooth fairy: a wistful tale we tell ourselves about the way the government can work to support families, all while knowing the dollar or quarter left for us isn’t really making a major difference.
Tiegue ignored the email. She works full time as an office manager for an engineering company, has twin 17-month-old toddlers, and the long to-do list and the heavy mental load shared by all parents of young children.Who among us doesn’t get text-heavy emails that we don’t always read closely?
Besides, Teigue and her partner, who works in car insurance, make more money than would traditionally be considered eligible for some kind of government assistance. They have a combined household income of $120,000, which, at $10,000 per month, is 400 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four.
And even within government subsidies, child care subsidies are notoriously difficult to get. Only about one in seven eligible families in the U.S. actually receive money to pay for care.
But then one of Teigue’s co-workers applied and encouraged her to do the same. “Easy” was how she described the application, and 48 hours later she had a huge surprise in her inbox.
Instead of paying $3,068 each month for child care for her twin girls, she would now be responsible for $1,000, with no additional changes or paperwork on her end.
A savings of over $2000 a month.
For the exact same care her kids were already receiving.
The child care center made the change on their end - and all of a sudden Teigue’s monthly invoice looked VERY different.
“I didn't believe it,” Linch said. “It just didn’t seem real to me.”
It’s here guys. The tooth fairy has come to child care. At least it has in Vermont.
Teigue’s good fortune is part of Vermont’s rollout of Act 76, the bipartisan legislation that passed with a veto override in June 2023.
One year in, Vermont has made a number of changes to how child care is paid for, including:
-Narrowing the gap in reimbursement levels for home-based child care and child care centers, since centers are traditionally reimbursed for care at higher rates. Doing so has made home-based child care more profitable and sustainable, and as a result more than 1,000 new child care slots have been created in Vermont in just a year’s time.
-Increasing the amount child care centers receive with the subsidies. Rather than reimbursing at the “market rate of care” which is what a child care center charges, the new system will reimburse at the “true cost of care” which is the amount of money it takes to care for one child.
-Broadening the income eligibility so that more people qualify for subsidies. Vermont’s child care subsidies will be available to families making 575 percent of the federal poverty line. For a family of four, this rate is close to an adjusted gross household income of $180,000.
Erin Roche, director of First Children’s Finance in Vermont, a group that is assisting with implementation of Act 76, estimates that the eligibility leap will make subsidies available to 80 to 90 percent of all Vermont families with young children. However, benefits to child care providers like Pine Forest, are contingent on having kids who qualify for the state subsidies. Child care providers who do not serve those children will not get the bump in reimbursement. A spokesperson for Let’s Grow Kids confirmed that Act 76 created other resources that benefit the child care programs, not just the reimbursement rate increases.
Teigue says the additional money she has each month will go toward savings. With the extra money, she opened a 529 account for her kids to begin saving for college. Though it’s still too early for her to know what the ripple effects will be.
Would she consider having more kids?
“I don’t know how to answer,” she said. Their plan had been to have one kid, but then were surprised with twins. “But it would make it more feasible, that is for sure.”
I’m headed to Vermont in December and reporting on other changes brought about by this legislation, as well as what the ripple effects of investing in near-universal child care may look like. If you’re in Vermont, or know someone who is and wants to talk, please send them my way!
Parents who DIY the care of their children also need - and deserve - support. Our grassroots nonprofit organization, Family and Home Network, calls for inclusive family policies that support "care for children" so all families are supported, whether they provide care themselves or use paid care providers. All care for children is essential work.
Gee, it’s almost as if supporting families will do more to increase the birth rate than outlawing reproductive healthcare.