America’s Childcare Providers Are Still Struggling to Survive
Amid the wreckage of thousands of closed businesses, many face long odds as federal money allocated a year ago remains stuck in state bureaucracies.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in earnest in early 2020, about one-third of U.S. childcare centers have closed and some 111,000 workers have departed the sector.
Photographer: Kathryn Gamble/Bloomberg
The U.S. childcare industry has been crushed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the virus arrived in earnest in early 2020, about one-third of centers have closed and some 111,000 workers have departed the sector. To stem the bleeding, Congress allocated tens of billions of dollars, including $39 billion last March under the auspices of the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Joe Biden. That package included $24 billion in grants to states meant to quickly help providers who were struggling to stay open.