The childcare cliff arrives this weekend, threatening to leave 3.2 million kids without care

The Child Care Stabilization Program was part of the American Rescue Act of 2021, providing $24 billion for childcare providers to pay their rent, pay their workers, and offer higher wages and bonuses in a tight labor market. About 200,000 childcare providers have depended on those funds.

But 70,000 childcare centers are likely to close with the expiration of this funding, according to a report by the Century Foundation. It won’t be sudden, but instead will be a “slow-rolling crisis” as programs balance budgets and realize where this funding gap leaves them, says Whitney Pesek, director of federal childcare policy for the National Women’s Law Center.

The economics of private-sector childcare have never fully made sense; care is unmanageably expensive for families, and yet childcare workers are paid low wages. “It hasn’t really rebounded in the way a lot of other low-wage sectors have,” explains Pesek. “It will only get worse with this funding going away.”

Childcare providers that run on “razor-thin margins” will likely raise rates for families. For the workforce that provides care—mostly women and especially women of color—higher wages and bonuses will likely disappear. Families in rural areas and families of color will be the most impacted by closures and rate increases.

The narrative that “the pandemic is over” is contributing to this funding being allowed to expire, says Pesek—even though the affordable childcare crisis existed before the pandemic and is far from fixed today.

While the ultimate solution is universal childcare—a long-term political battle—there are some other options in the near term. Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would extend this funding, but it has yet to gain bipartisan support. Without such legislation on its own, activists and lobbyists are aiming to attach childcare funding to an omnibus bill—like 2024’s appropriations bill—before the end of the year.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Fraser's full-steam ahead. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser doubled down on a recently announced company overhaul in a town hall meeting last week and asked that employees “get off the train” if they're not on board with the company’s changes. Citi’s restructuring has caused some senior departures and an expected slashing of jobs as Fraser tries to streamline the bank in her third full year as CEO. Financial Times

- Qantas reroutes. Newly appointed Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson apologized to customers in a video last week and promised to rebuild trust as the company faces legal action for allegedly booking flights that it didn’t intend to operate. Qantas was also charged with disobeying Australia’s Fair Work Act when the company laid off 1,700 ground staff in 2020, a dispute that Hudson has been ordered to mediate and could cost the airline hundreds of millions of dollars. Insider

- Nuclear (Miss) America. Grace Stanke, a nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the current Miss America, is the latest to tout nuclear energy as the future. Stanke has advocated for nuclear energy across 20 states and at the World Nuclear Association’s symposium in London. Wall Street Journal

- Entering the chat. Dozens of women now hold scouting and personnel roles in the NFL and ten women already serve as assistant coaches thanks to an influx of women applicants to the historically male-dominated league. This new generation of female playmakers, many of whom look to funnel into positions like head coach and general manager, use a group chat to check in on each other. New York Times

- Fashion fights back. Businesswoman and fashion designer Donatella Versace criticized the anti-LGBTQ+ policies of Italy’s Giorgia Meloni-led government at Milan Fashion Week on Sunday. Versace attacked the government for “trying to take away people’s rights to live as they wish” in response to recent laws that restrict Italian municipalities from registering most children with same-sex parents and banning the couples from enlisting surrogates. Hollywood Reporter

ON MY RADAR

Give the Liberty their crown The Cut

Amelia Dimoldenberg thinks we’re all forgetting how to flirt Wall Street Journal

Kerry Washington goes deep New York Times

PARTING WORDS

"It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video. There is no room for racism in any sport or at all."

—USA gymnast Simone Biles on a circulating video of a young Black girl being ignored during a gymnastics ceremony in Ireland earlier this year. Gymnastics Ireland said that the official had apologized and accepted responsibility for the act.