Most Americans said that the costs of child care are a “major problem,” and most are in favor of efforts to provide free or low-cost day care, according to a new survey released on Thursday.
The new Associated Press (AP)-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most Americans, 76 percent, agree that child care cost is a major issue, while 18 percent said it is a “minor” problem. Some five percent said it is not a problem.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 64 percent, are in favor of providing free or low-cost daycare for kids who are too young to attend public school. Around 15 percent oppose it, while another 20 percent are neither in favor nor opposed to the option.
The majority of Americans, 67 percent, want the federal government to require employers to provide paid leave for new parents, according to the poll. Around 12 percent are not in favor, while another 20 percent are neither in favor nor opposed to it, according to the poll.
“Everyone kind of agrees that it’s a problem that we need to address. By having this issue out there, it really is driving a lot of bipartisan conversations,” the executive director of the First Five Years Fund advocacy organization Sarah Rittling told the AP.
Both Democrats and Republicans have at times offered support for expanding the child tax credit, arguing it would be a way to help families. More than seven-in-10 respondents, 72 percent, said they are supportive of upping the annual child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,500 for parents who are U.S. citizens, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll that was released in mid-June.
The AP-NORC survey was conducted from June 5-9 among 1,158 adults. The margin of error was four percentage points.
