Child Care Access for Military and Veteran Families: What’s Missing?

The Department of Labor released new data regarding care costs; in case you were curious it is still cost-prohibitive. Military and veteran families often face unique challenges regarding child care access. While there are programs designed to alleviate some of these challenges, they frequently fall short and in ironically different ways. As an advocate and industry expert in military child care access, I’ve found that the most insightful answers often come not from program directors or policymakers but from the families themselves. Their experiences reveal gaps that need urgent attention if we are to truly support those who serve and have served.

Active Duty Families: Long-Term Solutions and Short-Term Struggles

Active duty families generally (not always) have access to various child care programs aimed at reducing costs. These include on-base options with reduced fees and off-base reimbursements that lower recurring expenses. Military discounts at child care centers also help ease financial strain. However, these programs often require significant upfront investments from families before any assistance begins.

Here’s the catch: accessing these benefits takes time. The application and approval processes can drag on, leaving families to cover the full cost of care in the interim. For many, this means that military families on one income are spending more than 23% of their income on child care (compared to 8.9% - 16% for civilian counterparts)—far exceeding the national recommendation of 7%.

Without immediate financial support, families often:

- Drain their savings to cover deposits and initial months of care.

- Resort to lower-quality or unsafe care options.

- Face financial instability that threatens their ability to maintain employment.

While emergency loan programs exist, they’re not uniformly funded across branches and often don’t cover child care expenses. Even when they do, loans—as opposed to grants—create a cycle of debt that can exacerbate financial hardships. I’ve personally experienced this struggle, relying on an Army Emergency Relief (AER) loan to pay for care. While it helped at the moment, the immediate garnishment of my spouse’s paycheck added months of financial strain.

The solution? Active duty families need access to intermediary financial assistance in the form of grants, not loans. These grants could bridge the gap between enrolling in care and receiving fee assistance, enabling families to focus on their careers and well-being without the looming stress of debt.

Veteran Families: Short-Term Aid and Long-Term Challenges

For veteran families, the issue is reversed. While they’re more likely to receive one-time financial assistance through various organizations, they lack long-term fee assistance options. The transition from military to civilian life often leaves veteran families unprepared for the high costs of child care. Many had relied on subsidized care while on active duty, stay-at-home spouses, or family members, or postponed having children until after leaving the service.

State programs for fee assistance are typically based on income, but the inclusion of disability payments, retirement benefits, or even estimated future benefits can disqualify veteran families. This leaves them ineligible for the support they desperately need, often before those benefits even arrive.

Veteran families need access to sustained financial support—a parallel to the fee assistance available to active-duty families. Without it, they’re left to navigate the high costs of care on their own, jeopardizing their financial stability and career prospects.

What Families Are Saying

- “I maxed out two credit cards, I didn’t know that the subsidy payments go to the provider and not to us.” (Marine Family)

- “My spouse and I both had to pick up an extra job on the weekend, we work opposite shifts to cover care” (Navy Family)

- “As a veteran, I was shocked to find out we don’t qualify for our state program. We’re barely getting by. There is a program I could apply for, but I cannot submit it until I have my disability figured out and that could take a year”

If you find yourself in rooms where military or veteran child care access is being discussed, bring these points forward:

1. Intermediary Financial Support for Active Duty Families: Advocate for grant-based, immediate financial assistance to cover the initial costs of care while waiting for fee assistance.

2. Long-Term Support for Veteran Families: Push for programs that provide sustained fee assistance tailored to veterans’ unique financial situations. States who want to retain veterans should consider a program offering step-down assistance.

3. Data Transparency: Encourage the tracking of metrics like fee assistance timelines and the impact of estimated benefits on veteran eligibility to better inform policy changes.

By addressing these gaps, we can create a child care landscape that truly supports families. As always if you want to know more about how a program works, ask those who want to utilize it.

What challenges have you or someone you know faced with military or veteran child care programs? Let’s start a conversation and work towards solutions together.