Unemployed military spouses could have child care fully paid for during their job search under a proposal being crafted by a leading lawmaker.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s military quality-of-life panel, is advocating for what she has termed a “GI Bill for child care.” The proposal would provide grants of up to $15,000 per kid to cover child care for 6-9 months while spouses try to reenter the workforce, according to a fact sheet provided by her office.
The proposal is meant to address a “chicken-and-egg kind of circumstance where sometimes you can’t afford child care because you don’t have a job, [but] you don’t have a job because you can’t afford child care,” Houlahan told Military.com in a recent interview in her Washington, D.C., office.
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“We want to provide a benefit for those people who have served us and their families that is the equivalent of a GI Bill, that gives them the boost, the shot in the arm that allows you to afford child care,” added Houlahan, a retired Air Force captain.
Military spouse unemployment has remained stubbornly high over the last decade despite years of efforts by the federal government to incentivize employers and even as the overall U.S. unemployment rate reaches new lows following the economy’s post-pandemic rebound.
The Defense Department’s most…
