Why more than 400,000 kids are on waitlists for federal childcare assistance

A student plays with interlocking toys at the Connecticut State University Early Learning Center in New Britain, Conn., on March 12, 2025. Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public via Getty Images hide caption

For low-income working families in the United States, the federal government offers financial aid to help pay for childcare. That is, if families can get off the waitlist for it.

In the second half of last year, there were an estimated 400,000 children on waitlists for childcare assistance programs across the U.S., according to a report by the National Women's Law Center released in May. That's nearly the size of the population of Minneapolis.

That figure has more than tripled over the past two years. Around 118,800 kids were on waitlists in early 2024, the group found.

But there has not been nearly enough money available for caregivers looking for financial help, especially recently, as childcare costs have ballooned nationwide.

Valentina Sosa of Cypress, Texas, first applied for childcare assistance for her 18-month-old daughter, Ameea, in March. She's still on a waiting list. Sosa's wages as a part-time real estate assistant aren't enough to cover the cost of local daycare. While the family waits, Ameea mostly stays at home with Sosa while she works, which she often does remotely.

"I know she needs the development that she's not getting, the engagement that she's not getting here with me, because if I'm working, I can only do so much," said Sosa, who is a single mother. "That's horrible to see for her. But I do what I can."

Childcare advocates blame the expanding waitlists in part on a failure by Congress to appropriate enough money for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the federal government's main source of funding to help families pay for childcare. The program serves over 1.6 million children across the U.S. in a typical month.