Wisconsin Shares has spent $106.3 million less than budgeted for the last three state fiscal years in subsidy payments to child care programs. The Big Question: If we are repeatedly underspending, why do we still have policies that continue to drive child care payments down, undermining the quality of their programs and the children...

Wages minus childcare costs equals complex problem for Madison’s working families,” according to Madison Magazine in its July 2015 article, Childcare costs pinch working families. Meeting the costs of child care is often out of reach for parents, and high-quality programs struggle to sustain their standards. The extensive look at child...

Zero to Three has just released a Baby Facts Report for Wisconsin, comparing Wisconsin with national data.  In general, Wisconsin looks better than most states, but there is plenty of room for improvement.                     Here are some particularly positive findings for Wisconsin:...

Wisconsin Shares The Joint Finance Committee at its May 14 meeting agreed to an adjusted Wisconsin Shares direct child care subsidy budget that is $11.9 million less than the Governor’s proposal for the 2015-17 biennial budget. Compared with the last year’s subsidy budget, the Joint Finance adjustment will result in a cut of $12.6...

Better get ready for a battle if you value federal support for poor and low-income families and their children. According to a recent article by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), House and Senate Budget Makes Wrong Choices, large cuts to important progress are proposed: “While programs for low- and moderate-income people...