By Emily Peck

(EXCERPT)

That’s a lot of money ― in normal times ― for an industry that has been chronically underfunded for decades. Indeed, the money in the HEROES Act, when combined with the $3.5 billion in grants that Congress tucked into the CARES Act back in March, amounts to more than the federal government typically spends on child care in a given year, said Rebecca Ullrich, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law And Policy who works on early childhood education.

But these are pandemic times. About 60% of child care centers are shut down entirely. These businesses operate on thin margins, relying primarily on tuition from parents.  

It would cost $9.6 billion a month to give operators enough runway to last through six months of shutdowns, according to an estimate Ullrich helped put together.

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