David Merage Featured in CNN Business Perspectives

On Wednesday, May 12th, CNN Business Perspectives published David Merage’s opinion on President Biden’s plan to support the childcare crisis. Merage, chairman and CEO of Consolidated Investment Group and co-founder of the David and Laura Merage Foundation, makes the case that the American Families Plan doesn’t go far enough. Although it is a step inthe right direction, the plan only halfway meets the mark.

While I do not support every measure in Biden’s American Families Plan, I strongly support investing in childcare. This is a vital course correction after decades of underinvestment.

David Merage, Business Owner & Philanthropist

David told CNN. As a business owner, Merage has seen the struggle of hiring workers outside of normal working hours due to a lack of childcare options. This has been a major challenge for years and has only been exacerbated by the pandemic due to an even greater loss of affordable and accessible childcare. In order for the American Families Plan to really make a different within childcare, the enhanced child tax credits should be made permanent.

Merage makes the connection that when mothers are forced into low-paying jobs and can’t afford many childcare options, children often end up in substandard care. Low-quality care doesn’t adequately support development, resulting in detrimental impacts on brain development and limiting the ability of our future workforce.

As a society, we all pay for this neglect in some way. Children who miss out on key early development are prone to needing special education, repeating grades, and becoming incarcerated later in life. Studies consistently show that high-quality early care and education greatly minimizes those risks. Using tax dollars to support accessto high-quality care is essential and cost-effective.

The American Families Plan proposes capping cost for low- and middle- income families, making high-quality care more affordable for all parents. While this is needed, the tax credits need to be made permanent for this to be successful. In addition to the tax credit, Merage supports the implementation of a mixed-delivery model for universal pre-K. Government funds should be layered with other dollars to build the supply of childcare in the market to meet the needs of all families.