Posted: | May 25, 2022 10:45 AM |
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From: | Representative Tina M. Davis and Rep. Melissa L. Shusterman |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Easing the Burden of Child Care Costs |
As more people return to work, many families are facing a tough decision—should both parents head back to the office? With the rising costs of child care, caregivers, who are typically mothers, are delaying their return to the work force. As of September 2021, nearly 1.6 million mothers of children under 17 have not returned to their jobs. One of the top reasons? It is more cost-efficient to remain at home rather than pay for day care or summer camp. In Pennsylvania, child care for one child averages almost $12,000 annually. A survey conducted in 2021 showed that 85 percent of parents are spending 10 percent or more of their household income on child care. We are proposing a tax credit for families whose daycare costs exceed 10 percent of their taxable income, capped at 20 percent of daycare costs or $5,000, whichever is lower. By providing this credit, we hope to ease the burden of childcare cost while simultaneously encouraging women to return to the work force and aid in decreasing the labor shortage. Please join us in co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as HB2737