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Mass. Child Care Grants Will Run Out at End of June Unless Lawmakers Step in
Massachusetts child care facilities are set to lose substantial funding at the end of June unless lawmakers act. The pandemic wreaked havoc with day care centers. Remote work meant reduced demand. In Massachusetts, 1,400 went out of business. But 85% were able to keep going thanks to Commonwealth Cares for Children, or “C3,” stabilization grants from the state. “You can…
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Child Care Is Getting More Expensive. Here's How Much Parents Are Paying and Ways They're Coping With Rising Prices
Parents, already dealing with rising inflation, are also facing increasing child care costs.
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Boston Gives Some Child Care Providers $3,260 Grants
Child care providers have experienced major financial struggles during the pandemic, but ones in Boston will be getting thousands of dollars in grant money from the city to help. The more than 450 registered family child care providers in Boston will each get $3,260 to spend on things like hiring or learning programs, the city announced Tuesday. The funding, Wu…
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‘It's a Big Challenge:' Advocates Call for Policies to Address Vt. Child Care Crisis
State leaders in Vermont, from both sides of the political aisle, have long said a declining number of working-age people in the small state threatens its economic future. A big reason for that worker shortage is difficulty accessing child care, which advocates say is a problem that has reached crisis levels. According to the Vermont Department of Labor, employers across…
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New Mexico Program Offers Free Child Care
New Mexico is making child care free for many families for a full year. Historian Anna Danziger Halperin joins Current to talk about the decades-long debate over child care costs and explores whether other states could adopt similar models.
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Budgeting for a Baby: Here's What Financial Advisors Recommend for New Parents
Expecting a baby? It’s important to start thinking about both the short-term and long-term costs of raising a child, say financial advisors.
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Biden Pushes for Paid Family Leave in State of the Union Address
Covid-19 raised awareness of a lack of a federal paid leave policy. Democrats are still hoping to pass legislation to change that.
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Biden Touts More Aid for Families With Children in His State of the Union Address. It's Unclear If Any of It Will Happen
In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called for more aid for families with children. Still, there’s no timeline for any legislation.
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Americans Are Eager for More Monthly Child Tax Credit Checks. Future Payments Could Come With Work Requirements
Millions of parents would love to see more monthly child tax credit checks. But getting lawmakers to renew those payments under the same terms may be difficult.
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Your 2021 Child Care Costs Could Mean an $8,000 Tax Credit. Here's Who Qualifies
Even if you didn’t qualify for the child and dependent care tax credit in the past, it’s worth seeing if you qualify under the expanded tax break for 2021.
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Boston Mayor Wu Announces New Office of Early Childhood
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Wednesday the creation of a new Office of Early Childhood in the city.
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Senators Tout Bill That Would Make It Easier for Pregnant Women to Keep Working
A bipartisan congressional proposal would require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers.
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Giving Poor Moms $330 a Month Can Help Babies' Brains Develop
There are promising results from a study that tracked babies’ brain development after mothers in need were given a monthly stipend. There were no restrictions on how the money could be used, and it seemed to have an impact on infants having healthier, more active brains, particularly in the regions that support thinking and learning. Columbia University professor of neurology...
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Baker Tax Relief Plans Add Up To Nearly $700 Mil
The $48.5 billion budget Gov. Charlie Baker is proposing for fiscal 2023 pairs a modest increase in state spending with a total of $693 million in tax cuts. Among other measures, Baker’s eighth and final annual budget proposal seeks to double the allowable maximum for the senior circuit breaker property tax credit and increase the cap on deductions for rent…
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Here's the Financial Assistance That Could Make the Cut in Biden's Smaller Build Back Better
As the U.S. economy has rebounded, more aid to Americans will likely be scaled down. Here’s what proposals could still get passed by Congress.
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Some Mothers Are Poised to Get Up to $1,000 Per Month Through a New Guaranteed Income Program
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life can be their most vulnerable, research shows. A new program gives money to mothers to help break the cycle of poverty.
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You Can Get Up to $8,000 Back in Tax Credit for Child-Care Expenses. Here's What You Need to Know
The child and dependent care tax credit, as it’s called, was expanded for 2021 and is likely to reach more households.
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Watchdog Sends Report on Problems With Maine Child Services
Lawmakers officially received this week a report from an oversight body for Maine’s child services that includes summaries of the “substantial issues” the office found in the cases it investigated in 2021.
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Omicron is Hospitalizing Kids Who Can't Get Vaccinated
Kids under age 5 are still not eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine — and now hospitals are seeing a spike in children infected with the Omicron variant of the virus. In New York City, pediatric hospitalizations have quadrupled. And data shows huge percentages of child COVID patients have not been fully vaccinated yet, either due to choice or because...