Illinois Families Can’t Survive Without Childcare

I’m facing a choice no parent should have to make. I just learned that the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program has run out of money, and I will have to pay more money to my childcare provider than I can possibly afford.

As a full-time employee at McDonald’s, I’m already getting low wages that keep me in poverty, literally making every penny count. There is no way I would be able afford to pay $1058 a month for child care, the average cost in Illinois.  Will I have to quit work to care for Manny, my two-year-old son? Will I have to get a second or third job to pay for childcare? Will I have to leave my son in less reliable care? Will he be safe?

It’s not right that thousands of hard working Illinois families like mine have to suffer and make these impossible choices.

But this is also bad for Illinois’ economy. Parents like myself will miss work or lose their jobs. Daycares across the state will have to close down. It’s not fair, it’s not responsible, and it’s not smart.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama said, “It’s time we stop treating child care as a side issue or a women’s issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is.”

I hope that Governor Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly also realize that this must be a priority for Illinois.

Please stand with me and the 100,000 families and 150,000 children in Illinois that are affected by this to demand that Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly do the right thing and approve full funding for Illinois families that need the Child Care Assistance Program.