continues. host: we are back now with lisa hamilton. she is the president and ceo of the annie e. casey foundation. good morning, lisa. guest: good morning. host: welcome to "washington journal." let's start off by talking about the annie e. casey foundation. what is the mission?

tell us more about your organization. guest: the annie e. casey foundation is based in baltimore, we were started by jim casey, the founder of ups, and his mother was any we are focused on helping all children have a brighter future. we focus on trying to make sure kids were up in strong families, that their families have the economic stability to provide for them and that they can all live in strong, healthy community. host: you say the founder of ups is also who founded this condition. is that how you are funded privately or are there other funding sources? guest: we have an endowment greeted by jim casey. we are -- created by jim casey. we are self-funded. host: your organization released the 2023 kids count data book. can you tell me about this document?

what does it entail? guest: for 34 years, the foundation has created a databook to provide policymakers and the public with accurate information about children's well-being. we identify 16 key indicators of child well-being in four demands -- four domains, health, communication, community, and economic well-being and every year provide information at the national level and the state level so that we all know how children are very in this country are faring -- are faring in this country. we rank the states to see whether they are doing well and take inspiration from other jurisdictions on how they can improve the lives of the children in their communities. this is our 34th databook. we also take the opportunity to highlight a particular issue each year and this year we

highlighted the issue of childcare. host: speaking of childcare, what are some of the findings? how would you describe the current state of childcare in the u.s.? guest: we have a broken childcare system in this country which is troubling because childcare is important for many reasons. it is important for children. there are 23 million children in this country under the age of five. about 12 million of them will exit our childcare system at some point during their childhood. we want others children to get off so that they are prepared for kindergarten when they start school. it is important for children that we have a strong childcare system. it is also important for parents. parents need childcare in order to go to work and to care for their families about that more

than 50% of people are working parents. they need the childcare support to enable them to go to work. childcare is important for our economy. want to make sure we have workers available to meet the talent needs of this country. we estimate $122 billion is lost in this country, that is the economic impact of not having a strong childcare system. we know there are charges in this system from access to affordability to locate childcare workers. we wanted to bring attention to this issue so i policymakers can make sure we have the right childcare infrastructure for our country. host: we are talking again with lisa hamilton who is the president and ceo of the annie e. casey foundation. we are going to get to some of

your calls in a moment. we want to get the phone lines because they are different than normal. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, call us at 202-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, call us at 202-748-8001. we have a special phone line for parents or caregivers of children. that number is 202-748-8002. if you are a childcare worker, we want you to call us at 202-748-8003. you can use those phone lines to start calling in now if you have any questions or if you want to share your thoughts or experiences in childcare or obtaining childcare. go ahead, start calling in now. while we wait for calls to come in, lisa, you talked about the

childcare system in your words being broken. what are some of those big challenges that lead to this broken system? guest: it is certainly a capacity issue. in this country, there are not enough slots for the children who need care. we have a capacity issue. there are issues with affordability. the average cost of childcare in this country is about $10,600 for toddler care. more expensive for infant care. if you think about the rising costs of everything from rented to food, to housing, having this significant expense and a rising expense puts a strain on any house -- household budget. for single parents, it approaches 30% of their budget. affordability is a tremendous challenge.

accessibility, a lot of childcare is not on public transportation where low income parents might need to access it and the issue is challenging for rural parents and childcare is many miles away from their homes. those are issues for those try to access childcare. there are also issues for those who are providing the childcare. one out of every 100 workers in this country are in childcare industry, but they are among the lowest paid workers in our economy. that certainly puts a strain on their household, but also has ripple effects in their communities. nearly all childcare workers are women and a large portion of them are women of color. when you think about the impacts to their families and their community, there are tremendous ripple effects from the located jobs in the childcare -- the low-paid jobs in childcare

industry. it is unaffordable, and accessible, we don't have the capacity we need and there are challenges for those providing care in this industry. host: before we get to the phone lines, i want to bring up this article. it's is the average cost of childcare, and these are 2021 statistics, the average cost was $10,600 annually for a toddler in a center-based care. there is also this map that shows in some places, including here in washington, d.c., that average cost was $24,400. the lowest state was mississippi. 4000 -- $24,400 a year for childcare. when you mention the costs being prohibitive, what does that mean for who is most affected by the

lack of childcare access? guest: thank you for bringing up that data. it is an shorter cost on any household budget and has a tremendous impact on certain demographics, certainly low income parents are challenged to access care. families of color, immigrant families, all of these communities, women accessing childcare, it is very expensive and often prohibitive. one of the data points we provide in databook at the national level and by state is how many parents are not working or have declined jobs because they simply cannot find the care in order to go to work. when we talk about why this is an important issue, it is absolutely important for our economy. without a strong childcare system, working parents are not

able to enter the workforce or to have the stability they need to be as productive as possible. i will also note that infant care, childcare, and in some places it is more than in-state college tuition. it really does put into perspective the effect that for our youngest children, we have made care and accessible -- care and accessible -- inaccessible. host: we are going to open up the performance. if you are in the eastern or social time zones, 202-748-8001. if you are in the mountain or -- eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. if you are a parent, call 202-748-8002. if you are a child care worker, call 202-748-8003.

our first caller is doug from las vegas. caller: i did a very confused on how this country gets so screwed up that when all of our politicians and everybody are talking about we have to find a way for somebody else to be paid to raise your children, i don't understand why people think it is all right for someone else to raise their child. people have got to get back to you get married, you stay married, you raise your child. you give up your life to raise your child. the government always was to find a way to pay somebody else to do what you should be doing yourself. why do we need to pay people to stay home and take care of their child instead of someone else raising their child? that is silly. host: lisa, can you respond to that? that is a different way than a

lot of families are set up. caller: -- guest: childcare is important for parents who need to work to care for their families, to have their children cared for. while many families make lots of choices about how to manage childcare, there are parents who stay home today take care of children. given the rising cost, is often that both parents need to work in order to provide financially for their children which is extremely important. to be able to go to work, we have an early chucker system that enables those parents to go to work and to get their children off on a good start. there are 23 million children in the country, half of them access the childcare system. we have families making a wide variety of choices. for us to have a strong economy, it is important to have a strong childcare system.

that is why we need a public-public -- public-private chucker system. -- childcare system. host: i'm next caller is mary, both a parent and a caregiver. caller: i would like to shout out grandparents because the childcare issue is not just on the young people. there are plenty of grandparents who have had to take in grandchildren and they are still working. our parents are not able to give these kids and they have to move in with us and we have to work, have daycare, supply everything. there are services, but they do not cover even infraction of what grandparents have to pay. for all the older people who are out there listening thinking this is just a young kid thing,

it is not. their operative old people caring for their grandkids who have to accept the same burden. that is my comment. host: lisa, your response? caller: thank you for that comment about what we call family friend and neighbor care that children are in a wide variety of settings. there are many families who helped care for children. that is important for shift workers. many workers are working nontraditional hours where centers are not open to provide that childcare. we know there are many family members or neighbors who are helping to provide care so those parents can go to work shift jobs that don't have consistent hours or 9:00 to 5:00 hours. host: let's go to washington,

d.c.. em is a parent. caller: yes, good morning. i have an eight-month-old and when i was searching for childcare, the lowest was 360 -- three hunters exceed five dollars a week. i am at the middle at about $450 a week. -- it has not gone up to $520 a week. i only got to $450 because i got a discount because of my job. this is more than what i am paying in rent.

it is very much unaffordable. i have to work a weekend job and childcare centers aren't open so i depend on my family. it is unsustainable for individuals who don't have a skill set, really depending on an hourly wage job. you sometimes have to go on a -- and if you make a certain, that money -- a certain amount of money, you can't get that. it is hard out here for parents. host: go ahead, lisa. caller: thank you for that personal story. that is why we want to lift up this issue because there are so many parents struggling to live and eat. infant care is the most

expensive because of the caregiver-child ratio required in regulations. in terms of trying to get support to meet these rising costs, we list in the reported that at the child of element grant is the federal government's primary funding for childcare support for low income families. only one out of six families eligible for this are able to access it. it is important our policymakers and sure there is adequate funding and appropriations some more parents can access those supports. we certainly know there are many families, just like the last caller, who are having a hard time making ends meet and being able to afford infant care. host: let's go to massachusetts.

carl is on the line. caller: good morning. thank you so much for coming on. what i wanted to say is that i don't think people my age understand that most of these parents would love to stay home and raise their kids. unfortunately, our whole system is upside down and we cannot do that. when i was raising our kids, my wife could stay home. i could pay the bills. now, all the young people both have to work. some people are working two and three jobs. if there is anything i want our society to do, it is to take care of each other. there is money for everything. it would be nice to see these millionaires and billionaires pay some taxes. maybe these corporations stop getting money back. we could do some really beautiful things for each other.

i do want to say it is a shame, ups, it would be nice if they took care of their workers and put some air-conditioning in. host: any thoughts? caller: i appreciate that caller's understanding of how important childcare is to the economy and the financial stability of the households. parents are working and that is why we need this childcare. they need to provide for their families and childcare is the mechanism to enable them to do that. in this country, we invest $500 per child in early childcare compared to other wealthy nations that invest $14,000 per child. we are far behind what other countries are doing to support families, prepare children for the future. we cannot afford to not invest in our children getting a good start. host: our next caller is a

parent calling from boston, massachusetts. tracy is on the line. caller: i want to say thank you to the annie e. casey foundation for highlighting this. other colors have highlighted that childcare is company broken in our country. my husband and i were both workers. when we had our first child, we made the decision that we would continue to work. in essence, i had to work in order to pay for our child to be able to be in daycare because of infant care costing so high. i think that maybe that is what a lot of families face. in order for one parents to not lose complete traction in the workforce and to be able to stay in the workforce, one salary must go towards childcare.

i don't think that is completely and a anomaly that completely an anomaly -- that is completely an anomaly. we need parents to stay in the workforce and in order to not lose traction i have to lose five years of my salary or any parent's salary. we were a two working households but we only had to live on one income. it is a complete struggle in a metropolitan area or even a rule area. thank you. i hope our lawmakers really understand that parents want to learn but we simply cannot afford it. host: lisa? caller: that is exactly right. childcare is on average about $10,600 per child, .1% of a

merry couple -- 10% of a married couple's income. these numbers are often unsustainable and contribute to one salary of a family going towards childcare. it is an expensive proposition for many families. host: let's go to detroit. leanne is a teacher in detroit. caller: when i pull up around 6:30's in the morning, it is dark outside. i have to make a choice between my child's standing outside by themselves and having to go to work. we are on the cusp of being a title i school and we have different programs. my question for lisa is, how do you get parents to feel that the paperwork?

we sent the paperwork home and we could be a prelunch school, but to get them to fill out the paperwork and say we have this program where they can stay after school with extra reading and things like that, but they want -- they want even -- won't even. we do have free afterschool programs, whether it is sports, academic. they want to come in and fill out the paperwork. what can i do as an educator? it only takes five minutes, but if this is what you need and we are offering it, why is it so hard for the parents to fill out the paperwork and sign them up? they don't even have to pay for the afterschool we have. caller: -- guest: thank you for all you are doing to try to make services and support available for families.

i can't answer why specific parents aren't filling out the paperwork, but parents who are low income in particular are trying to beat a variety of different eligibility requirements for all kinds of programs, whether it is food, afterschool, or housing. very often, those rules force them to cycle on and off of programs. they are often challenged to figure out what program i am trying to get eligibility for, how am i not eligible for something at this moment when i could have been other jubal a couple of months before -- i could have been eligible a couple of months before? i don't know the reason for specific parents. overall, many low income parents are really trying to care for their families while also trying to figure out what paperwork and rules they need to comply with to access the various support for need which were not all the

same and have different income and eligibility requirements. that can be challenging for them. host: let's hear from sylvia, she is a caregiver. caller: my grandchild is sleeping right now, that we take care of him between two grandmothers. i realize that is passe, but i called out for grandmothers and aunts to fill in, especially when parents cannot afford childcare places. they are safer with a family. in 1985, i used to take care of teachers' children and only charged seven dollars a week. that is passe, but the government needs to step in and help with free childcare. thank you.

caller: thank you guest: -- thank you. much appreciation for the grandparents that are caring for children when their parents cannot. you are right that they provide so much love and care and support and fill an important gap. i appreciate your encouragement to our policymakers to do more to support families. host: that caller mentioned the government stepping in to lower the cost of childcare, the annie e. casey foundation did have some recommendations. i will bring them up on my screen. one is that federal, state, and local governments should invest more money in childcare. the other is that public and private leaders should work together to improve infrastructure for home-based childcare and to help young parents, congress should expand

legislation. can you talk more about the second recommendation which the caller also referenced, home-based childcare? why do you think it is important to improve infrastructure for home-based childcare? caller: -- guest: that is a great question. many students are in center-based care but there are many children's served in homes through home-based childcare. as a baby, i went to a home-based childcare center. my mother was a teacher and a lady named ms. mckinley was the one who cared for me when my mother went to work. home-based care is externally important for lots of families -- externally important for the families. those caregivers don't always have the capital, the resources they need to expand their

capacity or those might be interested in opening home-based childcare services don't have the resources they need. one of our recommendations is that we make sure there is adequate capital to start and expand home-based centers. they are really important for many families that work outside of traditional work hours. there are many parents working night shifts or multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. those home-based care centers which are often more flexible in hours and closer to families so that they don't have to make long drives or ride public transportation to drop their children off our in their neighborhood. those are really important resources and part of our overall childcare ecosystem. host: let's hear from sharon in

powder springs, georgia. caller: good morning. the gentleman from nevada had excellent points. childcare should be a concern of the father and the mother and the father and the mother should be married and provide the care for their children. this government assistance is unreal. basically, in certain respects, it is socialistic. children are the responsibility of the father and the mother. if they grandparents want to involve themselves, that would be good. the government should not be expected to provide all of that care and a lot of other programs , food assistance and so on. host: lisa, do you find a

disparity between there are some government assistance programs that are very popular, particularly for the elderly, social security, medicare, but when it comes to children, the government has not provided that same level of assistance for younger americans. why is there that disparity? caller: there is a declining share in the federal budget that supports children and family issues while we have an increasing portion of our federal budget that supports seniors. we don't think that needs to be a trade-off between generations. it is important we invest in children in this country. they are our future workers and leaders. we think it is important that they support young families as they are starting out.

we also know how important it is for families to work and provide financially for their children. no one disputes that it is important for parents to provide for their children and the only way they can do that is by going to work. we invest in many other public goods in this country, whether it is support for the elderly or public transportation, childcare is no less an important introductory issue -- any important infrastructure issue -- an important infrastructure issue. this is not unusual in developed countries and our country does far less than many other wealthy countries. $500 a child in this country compared to $14,000 in others. there is more we can do to support shogun and countries -- to support children and families. caller: why would you put your

child in care of people you don't know how they are raised? there is so much physical and sexual abuse in these places, sometimes giving them thc gum is so they can sleep. how many people want to take care of children? maybe they have a hidden agenda. people don't think about that. the children cannot tell you someone touched me or someone shook me unless they are told this is something that should not happen to you. i know a woman lives in the neighborhood, a baby's femur was broken. i agree. i raise my kids and they lived without furniture. to this day, my kids will sit on the floor and my husband is a physician. we did not get started until later in life and we wanted to put money away for the kids' education.

when you have children, you cannot be selfish. you need to stay home. your husband can go to work and you can live without. you don't have to have a house. you can live in an apartment. if the government would ever be responsible for childcare, they need to have cameras in every single room in the house, especially in a house and day care center. how many people are good to sign up when they say they are cameras everywhere you go. you are not going to get very many people employed in that institution. i am concerned about the well-being of children and indoctrinating them. they are already doing it in third-graders. host: we got your point. any response, lisa? guest: we know that quality childcare is extremely important. this report does not delve into the quality issues advocates are focused on, but that focuses on

everything from safety in child care settings to the training of the professionals that provide care. families make lots of different choices about how to care for their children and no one choice is better than another. we all know that parents love their children and want to make sure they are safe and well taken care of and want to provide financially for their children. childcare is a support to ensure those parents who have to work have the support they need in order to do so and can make sure their children are safe and getting off on a great educational start so they are ready to start school in kindergarten. host: jay in tennessee is calling as a parent. what is your question or comment? caller: i would like to say that the only thing i agree with is that it is a really big problem.

it is not a problem that can be solved -- that can be solved. it is solved if people take responsibility for themselves. a man and a woman taken responsibility for the child they brought into this world. we can make all the excuses we want as to why it is so difficult to raise a kid, however, if we don't really come back down to the basics that a child is the responsibility of the two people who brought them into this world, joe biden and a lot of democrats want to say that child is not yours, it is ours. it is the state's. host: lisa, i know we have a lot

of similar colors. -- callers. if you want to make a comment, you can. otherwise i can move on. guest: this conversation is about parents who want to be responsibility. in order to do that, they need to work. it makes sense that we work to have infrastructure parents need to do that, they are providing for their children and this is just one support they need. host: jodie on twitter writes, "arkansas has a minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. how can working people make enough to pay for childcare when both parents have to work? taking care of my mom, i quit work because we could not afford nursing homes. we pay with our time to take care of her." caller: it is a terrible --

guest: it is a terrible catch-22 families are in that they are working as hard as they can to afford this care and it is still often out of reach. we want people to appreciate how hard families are working, yet with the rising cost of everything from rent and food and clothes, it is challenging for them to make ends meet. host: let's talk to jerry in california, with a grandparent and a caregiver -- both a grandparent and a caregiver. caller: i have a question that seems to be the best kept secret, where can we find where the guidelines are for income for eligibility for some of these services?

guest: the federal government has lots of information about eligibility for various programs. even childcare providers have lots of information for families. -- for families about the various programs. acf.gov is a way to find out what those resources are. part of the way we make sure families know what they qualify for is making sure the care providers themselves are helping families access in these programs. thank you for that question. host says -- host: how can parents find quality childcare? we have had questions about making sure it is a safe environment where the employees are properly trained. are there resources to help parents in that way? guest: every state has a quality

system that enables parents to find out what highest rate is -- highest rated childcare programs are and there are a variety of websites. . in your state, you search for the quality ratings system or service. you will find all kinds of information about center-based care and the quality dimensions of all of those providers. that is an important resource for parents. host: ronald in maryland, a parent on the line. go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you, lisa, for your service. we appreciate the work you do. listening to the conversation and i have a couple of comments. and a question. the number of colors that have called in saying parents are

completely responsible for their children. if parents don't want to take care of their children for our in a position to do that effectively and affordably. you have spoken to those issues. i want to ask you, who is lobbying on behalf of the children as there are lobbyists for elderly in this country, for -- host: ronald, it is starting to go out. go ahead, lisa, lobbying for kids. guest: there are many advocates, many of them parents, trying to lift their voices and make sure their legislators know that the issues they are facing in their

households and lift up the importance of childcare not just for the children and for the economy overall. many of our partners are working on this issue. also, parents, advocacy groups themselves are lifting their voices to make sure legislators know just how real and important these issues are. host: already, lisa hamilton, president and ceo of