Wisconsin parents are traveling to Capitol Hill this week to urge Congress to prioritize affordable childcare as families face rising costs and cuts to programs for babies and toddlers.

Binta Ceesay, a mother of two from Middleton, said her family relies on state child care subsidies but the structure of the subsidies can create a poverty trap, forcing families to choose between work and affordable care.

“I got this degree and I want to use it,” Ceesay emphasized. “But every time our income goes a little bit over, we are taken off of the state subsidy program. But when I choose a job, a lot of times the math is not really adding up because the jobs don't pay enough to cover childcare for two kids.”

The average cost of care for a toddler in Wisconsin is nearly $15,000, more than in-state college tuition.

Ceesay will join parents from across the country Tuesday in Washington, D.C., for Strolling Thunder, an event organized by the nonprofit Zero to Three. The parents plan to advocate for policies that better support working families.

Research shows more than 455,000 women in the U.S. left the workforce between January and August 2025 and 42% cited caregiving and childcare costs as the reason.

Ceesay argued the system forces parents to treat children as obstacles to employment and financial stability.

“I wish that it wasn't so hard for me to have to decide between choosing a career and choosing my kids,” she lamented. “These are the kids that I love and prayed for, that I wanted so bad, so why do I now have to sound like they're a burden?”

Ceesay noted her family’s situation has become more complex since both she and her son were diagnosed with autoimmune conditions and the emotional toll has created significant stress for her family.

“It's not even like he wants to work all those hours, but that's what he has to do, and that means he's carrying a heavy weight,” she explained. “But if you're not careful, you're building resentment because you're seeing them doing what they're meant to be doing, and you can't do that because you're stuck at home taking care of the people that you do love. But you also want to contribute meaningfully.”

Experts estimate childcare challenges cost the U.S. economy $172 billion each year in lost earnings and productivity.

Source: Public News Service