Chicago City Wire

State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago) is throwing her support behind a program recently launched by Gov. J.B. Pritzker designed to aid working mothers with childcare needs looking to settle back into the workplace.

“Working mothers have been disproportionately impacted, many of whom had to leave their jobs in order to care for their children as a result of this pandemic, making it even harder for some of these households to make ends meet,” Delgado told WGNTV.com.

Under Pritzker’s plan, which officially goes into effect on Oct. 1, any parent on the job hunt, who also qualifies for the state’s childhood assistance program, can apply to receive free childcare for three months.

“If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught us, it’s that we need to make childcare more affordable for everyone,” Pritzker said. “With this new program, Illinois is allowing more people to look for jobs and return to work without having to worry about where their kids will go during the day. That’s good for people. That’s good for businesses.”

By the administration’s estimates, tens of thousands of families are expected to be able to benefit from the program, especially women.

The new initiative is also slated to offer bonuses of up to $1,000 to individuals employed in a childcare center or home, with the funds coming from a $300 million fund they can receive grants from.

 Earlier this summer, state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) introduced Senate Resolution 342, which likewise seeks assistance for women by proposing that lawmakers “invest the money received through the American Rescue Plan Act to encourage women to return to the workforce and to help stimulate the growth of women in the workforce, and particularly, urges the child care funds be used to help fund child care and make it easily accessible for working mothers.”

In deeming the issue of childcare “the last challenge to get women back to work,” Rezin, who was recently honored as a 2020 Women of Excellence by the National Foundation for Women Legislators, added “I’m just asking that we use the additional revenue that we have in the budget to invest in childcare so we can get working women back to work.”

According to language laid out in SB 342, there are roughly 35 million working mothers across the country, with approximately half of the pre-COVID pandemic workforce consisting of women. Data also shows nearly one (18 percent) in five women with children of all ages are now considering leaving the workforce as unemployment for women has ticked up to nearly 16%.