opinion

An analysis by the National Women's Law Center , to be released Tuesday, finds something low-income parents know too well: When it comes to helping them pay for child care, Minnesota has become a stingy state.

Only eight states cut off eligibilty for government child care help at a percentage of their state's median income equal to or lesser than the Minnesota cut-off point. A single parent of two preschoolers who earns more than $30,048 in Minnesota (46 percent of the state median income) does not qualify for a state-federal child care subsidy (though if that parent earned less than that when she entered the program, she wouldn't lose her support until her income exceeds $42,925 per year.) Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas -- states notoriously tightfisted with income support programs -- are more generous

Minnesota's reimbursement rates for child care providers lag well below the federal government's recommended level, the study found. That's been true since 2001 -- which helps explain why child care providers have been dwindling in number in low-income neighborhoods.  

That, combined with the worsening economy, likely explains lengthening waiting lists for child care help. New Horizon Academy, which released the Women's Law Center study in Minnesota, said that 5,400 families are eligible but wait-listed for child care support now, compared with 2,900 12 months ago.

For many low-income families, a state child care subsidy affords the only chance for their children to experience high-quality care with a preschool component.  It's their best hope of sending their children to school fully ready to learn. The state's child care subsidies shrank in 2003 as the Legislature struggled to cope with the last recession. It reflects poorly on Minnesota's priorities that the state is sliding into the next recession with the 2003 child care cuts largely unrestored.