Pritzker Aims To Cut Child Care Costs, End Labor Shortage

DECATUR, IL — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday he would be expanding child care assistance through a series of investments in the Illinois Department of Human Services. Most notably, Pritzker said 80 percent of families will pay less than they did pre-pandemic for child care.

Beginning Thursday, DHS will roll out changes that will primarily affect parents under the Federal Poverty Limit, but will also permanently cap co-pay limits for all families in the state's Child Care Assistance Program.

Monthly family payments or copayments will be lowered to $1 per month for families with incomes at or below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Limit. Other families will be helped by the initiative to preserve copay percentage limits. This means the amount a family will pay for monthly child care will be capped at 7 percent of total family income. Under this new decrease, Pritzker's office estimates co-pays will reduce for about 80 percent of participating families.

If a family using federal assistance for child care starts to make more money, they will remain eligible for assistance until their total income is beyond 250 percent above the poverty line instead of the current 225 percent. Allowing flexibility on this front gives parents time to build savings and consider options before their child care prices increase, officials said.

A sliding scale will also be enacted that adjusts payments based on family income and the state's median income.

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Pritzker said at a press conference at a Decatur YMCA that the improvements aim to help both families — specifically mothers — and child care providers by mending the million-dollar loss the industry suffered during COVID-19 restrictions.

"We're ensuring quality childcare is accessible for more people — allowing more people to return to work without worry about where their kids will go during the day and helping Illinois' childcare network rebuild after the last 16 months," Pritzker said.

The state plans to do this by increasing reimbursement rates by 3.5 percent for all participating child care providers and by paying providers for a full month of child care even if a child has an attendance rate of 70 percent.

"Child care is the work that enables all other work; child care allows parents to work while their children experience the myriad of benefits that come from high-quality early care and education," said Grace B. Hou, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

By decreasing the financial burden of child care, state officials hope employees will get back to work amidst a large labor shortage across multiple industries. Earlier this month, Pritzker announced Illinois would not remove additional unemployment benefits for those out of work due to the pandemic after many said child care and fear of infection remained a worry.

Hou and Pritzker touted the program as a step towards breaking the cycle of poverty.