Child Care Tax Breaks Floated as Tool to Avert Post-Covid Crisis

A bipartisan bill would expand tax credits that offset child care costs for parents and employers—a novel approach aimed at reducing costs as experts warn of an affordability crisis exacerbated by the pandemic.

Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) are pitching colleagues and the US Chamber of Commerce on their Child Care Investment Act that would broaden a tax break that helps employers provide child care and increase the amount parents can deduct for those expenses.

While most child care proposals in Congress are targeted at boosting the providers, the House bill uses existing mechanisms to directly ...