{"id":31911,"date":"2022-12-12T09:58:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T18:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging2.threadalaska.org\/thread-copy\/policy-and-research-copy\/public-policy-copy-copy-2-copy-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-06-12T09:52:14","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T17:52:14","slug":"decrease-childcare-costs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.threadalaska.org\/thread\/policy-and-research\/legislative-agenda\/decrease-childcare-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Brief: Decrease Out-of-Pocket Child Care Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Policy Brief<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Decrease Out-of-Pocket Child Care Costs for Families<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, out-of-pocket expenses for child care should be no more than 7% of a family\u2019s income. For example, a family with a household income of $60,000\/year should not spend more than $4,200\/year on child care costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Background<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A recent report from Child Care Aware of America states that a family in Alaska with two working parents will pay about 11% of their income in child care costs for one child. This percentage increases to 32% for single-parent families. Child care expenses for two children under the age of five rival the cost of housing for most Alaskan families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the cost of child care is high in Alaska, the out-of-pocket expenses, even for families receiving a child care subsidy, are some of the highest in the country. Research from Prenatal-to-Three Policy Impact Center indicates that Alaskan families pay some of the country’s highest out-of-pocket rates for child care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A combination of strategies is needed to decrease out-of-pocket expenses for both subsidy and non-subsidy families while not unintentionally increasing providers’ financial burden. These strategies include increasing provider reimbursement rates to reflect the actual cost of care, reducing co-pays and other required costs paid by families receiving a subsidy, and exploring innovative solutions to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families with incomes, placing them just outside subsidy eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designing a more effective child care assistance program within Alaska is a critical step towards solving our state’s child care crisis and reducing the out-of-pocket child care expenses for all Alaskan families.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Policy Solutions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A combination of diverse policy solutions will help reduce out-of-pocket costs for Alaskan families. Some of these include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n