Federal funding for state-administered child-care-assistance programs has declined since 2001, leaving many low-income families struggling to find child care, finds a study by the National Women’s Law Center.
It found a family of three with an income 200 percent of the federal poverty level could not qualify for child-care aid in 36 states.
Moreover, five states—Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas—had more than 20,000 children on a waiting list for child-care assistance.