Support child care

Re “Expanding child care will reap benefits” (Our Views, Sept. 14): Many people don’t realize how close we came to having child care support for working parents back in 1971, when Congress passed the Comprehensive Child Development Act. The act provided subsidies for working parents to help defray the costs of child care and included provisions for medical, nutritional and educational services for children from infancy to age14. Despite the fact that the act passed the Senate by a margin of 63-17, President Richard Nixon vetoed it for political reasons.

According to the Brookings Institute, the average cost for one child at an accredited day care facility in America averages about $10,000 per year, putting America dead last in child care affordability among developed nations. If we had more affordable day care, more parents could go to work and help not only their families, but the overall economy.

Families with young children are at the center of our nation’s life and hopes for the future. Decent child care is necessary but unaffordable for many, if not most, of America’s families. It’s time to revive the Comprehensive Child Development Act that a more-enlightened Congress passed almost 50 years ago.

Gary Ball, Chesapeake