{"pk":63851,"title":"Childcare and the Burden on the American Family: Can the Tax Code Provide a Solution in a Post-Pandemic World?","subtitle":null,"abstract":"<p>Childcare, and how to pay for it, is one of the central issues facing families and society today. The challenges of childcare adversely impact women who bear the primary responsibility for such care, both paid and unpaid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, women were more likely to bear the professional and personal impact of shuttered preschools and the absence of daycare centers. Even wealthy families faced these same challenges, along with the common concerns of protecting their health and those of vulnerable family members. Post-COVID, all households have seen the rising costs of childcare, as licensed care centers have permanently closed and informal care is in short supply. The unaffordability and unavailability of childcare presents a particular challenge for those in the middle and low-income classes as they also struggle with the high costs of food, healthcare, housing, and other daily expenditures. This Article argues that tax laws should be augmented to elevate the value of care labor while offering greater support for both parents working in the market and those in the home. The tools of tax policy offer powerful potential to open remedial paths for the greater public good. A refundable child dependent care credit, the reinstatement of the per child credit for children under 6 years old, the expansion of the earned income credit for the care provider, a more generous employer family leave credit, as well as new provisions supporting the working parent, the low-income taxpayer, and unpaid caregiver, represent practical initial steps. In addition, tax revenues should be raised in commensurate measure to support this higher valuation of care activities. Attention to this childcare issue will represent an investment in our children, will help assure them equality of opportunity, and provide them the education necessary to make valuable contributions to the nation. Promoting choice through the tax code will help prepare us for a future pandemic.</p>","language":"eng","license":{"name":"All rights reserved","short_name":"Copyright","text":"© the author(s). All rights reserved.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/authors"},"keywords":[],"section":"Article","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/28g3g0b6","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Nancy","middle_name":"E.","last_name":"Shurtz","name_suffix":"","institution":"","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2025-12-06T22:57:00+03:00","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/uclalaw_jgl/article/63851/galley/49018/download/"}]}