Screenshot: The White House Twitter account

Inaugurated yesterday, President Joe Biden is already busy. Among his most important early efforts is a plan to address the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal that includes $40 billion for child care.

The need is, as CNBC reports, substantial. “Women are being particularly hard hit, either missing out on promotions, having to leave the workforce, or losing their jobs. One in 4 are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce altogether, according to a September report by Lean In and McKinsey & Co.

“Meanwhile, women accounted for 100% of the jobs lost in December, an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center found.”

Biden’s plans could have a historic impact.

“Not since the New Deal during the Great Depression have we seen such an ambitious economic stimulus plan,” C. Nicole Mason, president and chief executive of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, tells the New York Times. “What that signals to me is that the new administration understands the magnitude of the problem.”

In a press release CLASP (the Center for Law and Social Policy) says of Biden’s proposed stimulus:

“This plan comes at a critical inflection point in our country as we battle two intersecting pandemics —the deadly coronavirus and systemic racism. These investments will both respond to enormous immediate distress that families and workers are facing and lay the foundation for building a stronger and more equitable country—including by sharply reducing child poverty, which should be a top priority for lawmakers.

“The plan would… address the crisis in the child care sector and support children, families, and child care providers by investing $25 billion in a child care stabilization fund, in addition to $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to expand access to affordable child care for families with low incomes.” These two funding sources would ensure that both subsidized and non-subsidized child care programs would receive aid.

In addition, the plan includes “an expanded tax credit to help families afford care,” the news website Vox reports.

“Together with the $10 billion set aside in the December stimulus package, the proposal would reach the $50 billion advocates have said is necessary to stabilize the child care industry.”

Rhian Allvin, CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) tells Vox, “We were really, really pleased to see the amount of funding in the plan. It definitely is what we have been asking for.”

“The economics of child care were shaky before we even got into pandemic,” Allvin adds. “While this will absolutely stabilize the sector, it doesn’t fix the underlying economic conditions that weaken it.”

The next step: Congress has to approve the proposal.

This makes now the best time to reach out to both Democratic and Republican members of Congress and ask them to support Biden’s proposal. Remind federal representatives that child care is a bipartisan issue. High-quality child care supports children, and it enables parents to go to work, which will help rebuild the pandemic-damaged economy. It’s an investment that ensures everyone wins.