Heinrich Promotes Better Access To Childcare, Child Tax Credit Expansions As Key Tools To Increase Workforce Participation, Reduce Poverty

WASHINGTON (Oct. 27, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Vice Chair of the U.S. Joint Economic Committee (JEC), participated in a hearing exploring challenges the workforce is facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VIDEO: Heinrich Promotes Better Access To Childcare, Child Tax Credit Expansions As Key Tools To Increase Workforce Participation, Reduce Poverty [HD DOWNLOAD LINK HERE]

During the hearing, Senator Heinrich discussed how provisions in the Build Back Better Plan would create better access to childcare for working families.

Senator Heinrich also pointed out that work requirements on childcare assistance – like the Child Tax Credit – have an impact on nontraditional family units such as households where a grandparent is the primary caregiver. Witness panelist and Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Dr. Betsey Stevenson expressed that work requirements are “not going to put people back in jobs. What it’s going to do is remove cash from the household. When you remove cash from the household you end up hurting kids and you end up reducing labor force participation among those kids as they grow up.”

Senator Heinrich has a track record of fighting for policies that benefit New Mexico’s working families. He voted for the American Rescue Plan that made the largest-ever investment in child care, releasing $39 billion to states. Senator Heinrich is also fighting to extend historic middle class tax cuts for parents, including the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) passed through the American Rescue Plan that is projected to cut child poverty by more than half. 

Senator Heinrich has also long championed two-generation policies that help parents and children reach success together. He recently introduced the College Completion Fund Act, landmark legislation to promote college completion in a thoughtful, innovative, and comprehensive way, and address longstanding inequities in college access and success. A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) argues that getting parents who have not earned a degree back to college is a key element for economic recovery from the pandemic.