DETROIT – According to a new analysis released by the House Committee on Education and Labor yesterday, the Build Back Better Act could save Michigan families thousands of dollars in child care costs each year. The Committee’s report found that in Michigan, a typical family of four with one infant in full-time center-based child care would save $9,080 each year and the typical family of four with one infant and one child in full-time center-based child care would save $18,040 each year. For Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), representative of the third poorest Congressional District in the country, the report validates her and other progressive members’ insistence that both the Build Back Better Act and the infrastructure bill be passed.

 

“This latest report from my colleagues on the House Committee on Education and Labor is proof positive that holding the line on getting both the so-called bi-partisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act is what is needed to make transformative change in the lives of our families at a time when they need it most,” Congresswoman Tlaib said. “The global pandemic has further exacerbated the gross income inequality that has plagued our country. The Build Back Better Act presents a unique opportunity to put thousands of dollars back in the pockets of Michigan families—and it is one we cannot afford to pass up. It’s Michigan families, especially those in the communities I represent, that have and will continue to be my only concern in this debate, not the naysayers whose supposed concern is fiscal responsibility.”

 

Under the Build Back Better Act, no family would pay more than seven percent of their income on child care. Families making 100 percent of the State Median Income or less–which is 60 percent for a family of four in Michigan–would pay no more than 2 percent of their income on child care, regardless of the number of children they have in child care.

 

The legislation’s child care investments, which the House Education and Labor Committee advanced in September, would give families greater financial security, allow more parents rejoin to workforce, and help grow the economy.

 

For the full state-by-state analysis, please click here.