For Immediate Release:
GENERATION HOPE RELEASES CHILD CARE BARRIER REPORT HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPACT OF INACCESSIBLE AND COSTLY CHILD CARE ON STUDENT PARENTS’ WELLBEING
WASHINGTON, D.C. — March 23, 2023 — Nonprofit Generation Hope, announced today the release of its report “The Child Care Barrier: The Impacts of Inaccessible and Costly Child Care for Student Parents” focusing on the impact of inaccessible and unaffordable child care on student parents’ academic and personal well-being. The report also provides recommendations for college campuses and policymakers to alleviate this issue and improve student-parent outcomes.
“Despite the strong determination to achieve their academic goals, student parents face a formidable child care barrier when it comes to completing college. Our work and discussions with student parents identify clear gaps in child care support and highlight how caregiving responsibilities impact their everyday lives in significant ways,” said Nicole Lynn Lewis, Generation Hope Founder & CEO. “Generation Hope’s programming is rooted in generating success, economic mobility, and support for student parents, and we’re working with higher education institutions and policymakers to identify solutions that will close these gaps in child care for millions of families.”
When factoring in the cost of child care, out-of-pocket costs for attending a public college are two to five-times higher for student parents than for their peers. Earning a college degree for a student parent can have a transformative impact on their lives. However, a myriad of financial, academic, personal, and time-related hurdles divert their paths to graduation - with child care being one of the most prominent. Most low-income families cannot bear the entire cost of child care, regardless of the type of arrangement — whether at a center on- or off-campus or at a home-based site. This report sheds light on the child care needs of student parents in the DC region participating in Generation Hope’s Scholar Program. Key findings include:
78% of respondents wished their campuses did more to support their child care needs.
71% of respondents relied on informal and/or unpaid child care (i.e. family, friends, neighbors, public school programming, etc).
92% of respondents either did not have access to or were unaware of on-campus child care options.
82% of respondents are living below the national poverty line (annual household income below $30,000).
72% of respondents were providing 30+ hours of care for their child/ren each week while also attending school.
Improving outcomes for student parents is crucial not just for students themselves, but for theirfamilies. Families are adversely affected by barriers to affordable, high-quality child care —effects felt most acutely by low-income communities and communities of color. Student parents are often forced to choose between providing quality care for their children or continuing their education. The differences in college persistence and academic momentum for student parents compared to their non-parenting peers have been directly linked to child care access.
The journey toward and through college is uniquely challenging for students pursuing a degree or credential while raising children. It can be challenging for student parents to balance academic schedules, employment commitments, and parenting responsibilities, especially when affordable, high-quality child care remains out of reach. It is important for higher education institutions and policymakers to take action because a college degree can make a clear difference in the lives of student parents and their children. Recommendations for college campuses and policymakers to consider as they develop more support for student parents include:
Collect and track students’ parenting and caregiving statuses.
Provide more on-campus child care that is designed to specifically serve the needs of student parents and their families.
Increase funding of child care support for student parents. Federal funding for child care subsidies is inadequate, leaving many families in need without access.
Invoke institutional policies that are flexible and adaptable, recognizing that individual students’ situations may warrant different approaches.
Bridge basic needs aid with student parents’ education and career pathways.
Appreciate and encourage the insights and leadership offered by student parents on campuses, in classrooms, and in communities.
To read the full “The Child Care Barrier: The Impacts of Inaccessible and Costly Child Care for Student Parents”, please visit generationhope.org/child-care-report-2023.
Media Contacts
Dreena Whitfield
dreena@whitpr.com
908.588.2602
Brionna Miller
brionna@whitpr.com
973.861.3554
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About Generation Hope
To ensure all student parents have the opportunities to succeed and experience economic mobility, Generation Hope engages education and policy partners to drive systemic change and provides direct support to teen parents in college as well as their children through holistic, two-generation programming. @supportgenhope