Supporting Working and Student Parents through Child Care Assistance: State Policies to Strengthen a Critical Work Support

This policy brief from the Working Poor Families Project outlines barriers to accessing child care subsidies, reviews policies that increase access to the subsidy, and provides recommendations states can take to support increased access. As part of their review of child care subsidy policies, the authors analyze the strategies states have used to mitigate benefit cliffs. Those strategies include disregarding a certain amount of a participant’s earned income, setting higher income eligibility thresholds, and gradually phasing out eligibility as a participant’s income increases. The authors recommend that states alter their child care eligibility policies to match the need for child care assistance for low-income families.