Political Quotes

“I am here to join my colleagues because, across the country, working families are facing an impossible choice that is created by the lack of access to childcare. Even before the COVID pandemic, families in my home State of New Hampshire and elsewhere have struggled to access affordable childcare, and they were often faced with shortages of available childcare slots. The pandemic exacerbated these challenges and caused childcare centers across the Granite State to close. That forced countless families to scramble for alternatives. The closure of a childcare provider can result in higher costs for families, and in New England, we already pay some of the highest costs for childcare in the country. They can also require parents to leave the workforce altogether. Since 2019, New Hampshire has lost nearly 1,500 childcare slots, as dozens of childcare centers have closed their doors. I have visited some of those centers from across my State--from Littleton, in the northern part of New Hampshire, to Rochester, down on the Maine border, to Manchester, our largest city, and over in the west to Keene. I have seen those closed classrooms and strained facilities in every corner of the Granite State. In October of 2020, New Hampshire had only half of the licensed capacity necessary to serve children under the age of 6 who needed care--only half of the required slots for care.…”