evidence: While the pandemic has exacerbated and highlighted the economic precarity of too many children and families, the issues that cause such high rates of child poverty in the United States existed long before the public health crisis. Systemic inequalities stretching back to even before the country’s founding7 contribute to disproportionate rates of poverty for Black and Latinx children in particular. And ultimately, joblessness, caregiving responsibilities, single parenthood, and other common life events only put children at risk of economic insecurity because U.S. policies have allowed that reality. [...] Nearly half of low-wage workers, meaning those in the bottom quarter of earners, do not have access to a single paid sick day to protect their health or care for a sick family member without risking a paycheck.32 More than 90 percent of low-wage workers and part-time workers do not have access to paid family leave through their employer.33 The disparities are also stark across race and gender: Less than half of Black workers and just one-quarter of Latino workers had access to paid leave, and Black and Hispanic women were more likely than white women to lose or leave their jobs after giving birth.34 Those disparities are exacerbated by a lack of affordable child care, which is one of the biggest expenses for families today.35 Without better options, parents must consider working fewer hours, taking a pay cut, or leaving their jobs to ensure their children are cared for. For families in poverty, whose jobs already tend be unstable, inflexible, and inadequately compensated, the decisions surrounding child care can have dire consequences for their family budgets and potential future employment.