The Biden administration is preparing to ask Congress for $16 billion in child care funding, part of its push to keep child care providers afloat and expand access to affordable care for working families, according to two White House officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The funds would account for about one-third of the roughly $50 billion the White House plans to seek for domestic needs, including high-speed internet access and natural disaster relief. It comes on the heels of a $106 billion request for international priorities including funding for Ukraine and Israel.

The child care funds, which would be distributed to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, would provide a year of stabilization funding for more than 225,000 child care providers throughout the country. Many received similar allotments during the pandemic when Congress set aside a record $24 billion to help keep child care facilities open.

The last of those funds expired at the end of September, leaving many providers struggling to stay open. As many as 1 in 3 child care centers could soon close, leaving some 3.2 million children without care, according to estimates from the Century Foundation, a liberal think tank. Some childcare providers say they’ve already had to lay off workers or raise fees to make up for the loss in federal funding, and many expect the situation to become even more dire in the coming months.

Economists fear the erosion of child care options could roll back recent gains in the workforce. Women – and working mothers in particular – have reentered the labor force at a rapid clip after the pandemic and have helped drive much of the economy’s recent momentum. Without care, many could be forced to scale back at work or quit altogether.

Improving child care and making it more affordable has become a key priority for the Biden administration. White House officials say renewed funding would help preserve existing child care slots while also providing financial help to families who rely on care to get to work. In April, the president signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to “do what they can …  to boost the supply of high-quality early care.”

The $16 billion request from President Biden matches what Democrats in Congress had called for last month. The funding would go directly to states and ranges from $15 million apiece for Wyoming and Vermont to $1.8 billion for Texas.

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