Families in every state need an income at least twice the federal poverty line to meet basic needs for food, housing, child care, transportation, and health care. In states with a lower income threshold for subsidy eligibility, families with an infant or toddler cannot afford child care without sacrificing other essentials.
The National Women’s Law Center reports the income eligibility limits for a child care subsidy as a percentage of the 2021 federal poverty level for a family of three. The data source reflects policies as of February 2021. We recoded these data to capture eligibility limits that are equal to or above 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In Colorado, Texas, and Virginia, counties set their income limits and the median eligibility limit depending on the different regions, so it is not possible to compute this indicator for these states.
Schulman, K. (2018). Overdue for investment: State child care assistance policies, 2018. National Women’s Law Center. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NWLC-State-Child-Care-Assistance-Policies-2018.pdf
Source:
Schulman, K. (2022). At the Crossroads: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2021. National Women’s Law Center. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NWLC-State-Child-Care-Assistance-Policies-2021.pdf