Child care is just unaffordable

To the editor:

One of the single greatest challenges confronting Bronx families is the crushing cost of child care. Studies have shown repeatedly that child care has long and lasting benefits for the socio-emotional development of children.

In New York, the price of child care has become so prohibitive for so many that countless children have been deprived of a lifelong developmental benefit. According to Business Insider, the average family in New York City spends more than a quarter of their income on child care — per child.

In the Bronx, the average monthly cost of child care for infants is $2,791.

Remember when Jimmy McMillan ran for governor on the platform “the rent is too damn high”?

Those same words should be spoken about the crippling cost of child care, and nowhere more so than in New York City, where the cost of living is second to none.

I have heard the heartbreaking stories of constituents who cannot afford child care without bankrupting themselves. It is nothing short of a moral outrage that America — the wealthiest country in history — treats child care not as a necessity, but as a luxury good, reserved only for those who can afford it.

As your congressman, I am partnering with a bipartisan coalition in the House to confront the affordability crisis surrounding child care. I am co-leading the Combating High Inflation Limiting Daycare Act — otherwise known as the CHILD Act.

If enacted, the CHILD Act would expand federal funding for child care, via the Dependent Care Assistance Program, from $5,000 to $10,000. The existing cap of $5,000 has been too low for too long, failing to account for the impact of record-high inflation.

The CHILD Act would not only have the short-term benefit of doubling funding for DCAP, it would have the long-term benefit of ensuring that DCAP keeps pace with the rate of inflation.

Child care is not an expenditure. It is an investment in the next generation. Every dollar we invest in child development will yield returns that transcend dollars and cents.

The CHILD Act would bring us closer to building a better Bronx, and a more affordable America.

Ritchie Torres

The author is the U.S. Representative, whose district includes the greater Riverdale area