NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Sen. Mark Warner held a round table discussion Friday in Newport News on the issue many families are having with finding affordable child care.
"You know this is new and it is much more expensive now than what it was 20 to 30 years ago when I was raising his mother," Lowanda Sample-Rusk, who is taking care of her grandkids, said.
Sample-Rusk said one thing that's different with raising kids this time around is just how expensive child care can be, and she's not the only one who feels that way.
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The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found child care is not affordable for most Virginia families, especially those with lower incomes, and that full-time childcare for one child ranges between $5,000 and $23,000 a year.
"When I do find something that's reasonable, they don't have any open availability for them," Sample-Rusk said.
Sh voiced her concerns to city and state leaders at Firday's round table.
During the conversation, leaders in child care in Hampton Roads told Warner about the pressure they feel.
From the need for staffing and better pay to increasing capacity and accessibility.
"Forty-six percent of Virginia kids live in child-care deserts," Warner said.
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Warner said one way he's looking at potentially providing more resources is by looking at next year's tax debate in Washington.
He said in America— in terms of federal dollars spent—almost $7 is spent on Americans over the age of 65 and less than a dollar is spent for every kid under the age of 18.
"Social security and Medicare I am all in, but maybe that ratio ought to not be six or seven to one," Warner said. "Maybe it ought to be five to two. There might be a way where we can force this way to a bigger level."
For parents like Sample-Rusk, they hope more solutions will come quickly.
"I hope the state can come up with something that will help us so that we can keep our children safe and we can continue with our work," Sample-Rusk said.
Part of the round table discussion also included renderings of the Early Childhood Development Center in Newport News which is expected to open this Fall.
