Fighting for Working Families

As a working mom of three girls, I know the struggles of finding reliable, quality childcare and how essential that childcare is to be able to work.

Quality childcare continues to be difficult to find and is often far too expensive for working families. Women, in particular, are disproportionately impacted by unreliable or inadequate childcare. If elected, I will work to expand programs, such as funding for community-based programs as well as subsidies or vouchers, so that working families do not have to worry about who will care for their children when they are working.

Businesses financially benefit from increased availability of childcare as many parents need reliable childcare in order to obtain and keep a job. High-quality childcare is also a smart investment in the development of our state’s children and has been shown to have a lifelong, positive impact, particularly on those children with disadvantaged backgrounds.

I also believe that Maryland can and should be a leader in implementing paid family leave. Our country is far behind the rest of the world in enacting paid family leave, and now is the time to provide this much-needed support for families. Quality, affordable childcare for infants is especially difficult to find, and paid family leave would give parents an opportunity to care for infants during a crucial stage in development. 

We must also ensure that smart decisions are being made for growing the economy, keeping Marylanders employed, and keeping our strong economy working for all Marylanders.