Commentary: Funding for Child Care Seems Nice, But Think Twice – By Hadley Heath Manning (Real Clear Politics) / Sept 30 2021
A new Treasury Department report tells us what we already know: Child care costs are unaffordable for many families. In response to this, lawmakers have included $250 billion in child care subsidies in the $3.5 trillion spending bill currently under consideration.
While this effort might strike many Americans as a well-intended “hand up” to working parents, it comes with a significant downside, and not just the price tag to taxpayers. The most serious problem with government-funded child care is the downstream effect on the quality, variety, and independence of child care providers in today’s robust — although expensive — marketplace.
In other areas, government funding has proved to function like a Trojan horse. Colleges gladly welcome federal funding via student loans and Pell grants, while hospitals do the same for Medicare and Medicaid dollars. But these institutions, awash in government money, are now beholden to government rules, even if the rules aren’t to the benefit of students or patients.
In higher education, any school that receives federal funding — not just public colleges and universities — must comply with federal statutes and regulations (and even weaker “guidance” like “Dear Colleague” letters). This includes nearly all private colleges, too.
