Last night, at the urging of Moms First and nearly 15,000 moms and allies, the presidential debate moderators asked the candidates about child care at the first debate of the 2024 election. In a victory for American families, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked President Biden and former President Trump how they would lower child care costs for American families, citing a new report that found that the average cost of child care for two children is now higher than the average cost of rent in all 50 states.

The child care crisis in the United States—which affects families’ ability to find affordable, accessible, quality options—now has growing national security implications, too.

A nationwide shortage of qualified workers has affected the U.S. Department of Defense, which is the largest child care provider in the country, and that has meant that an estimated 9,000 children in military families have been placed on wait lists for classroom spots.

Disney has donated thousands of books to help make magic for military kids on a recent visit to a Marine Corps Base Camp.

In honor of National Military Spouse Appreciation Day last month, COACH and nonprofit partner, Blue Star Families – a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting military families and strengthening their communities, teamed up to host events in Jacksonville, FL and at our New York City Hudson Yards HQ to recognize military spouses and the vital role they play in supporting our military.

At Comcast NBCUniversal, we recognize that military service is a commitment made by entire families, not just those in uniform. This past Military Spouse Appreciation Day, we were proud to honor the incredible sacrifices of military spouses and celebrate our teammates who are driving meaningful change for the military community.

A lack of affordable child care is pushing many U.S. military families to the brink, creating hardships that threaten troops’ ability to remain in service, according to a nonprofit military family advocacy group.
In a survey by Blue Star Families, active-duty military parents cited child care availability as one of their top quality-of-life concerns. With an estimated 9,000 children on waitlists for military-run child care centers, many military spouses are unable to pursue careers due to child care challenges.

Troops in the Air Force, Space Force, Navy and Marines Corps who attend professional military education or training classes are now eligible for a daily stipend to cover housing costs at their training location. A new policy allows service members to collect extra pay based on their Basic Allowance for Housing at the without-dependent rate to cover housing expenses at their second location.

Service is a lifelong commitment for retired colonel Paul Dietrich. He volunteers at the Blue Star Families’ food pantry at Fort Wadsworth. The pantry serves more than 150 families per service day. “It’s good to see that we are taking care of our veterans and our active duty people,” Dietrich said.

Military families are working to solve the “greatest challenge”—preventing veteran suicide—to commemorate Memorial Day this year. An average of 17 veterans died from suicide each day in 2020, according to a 2022 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). While this number has dropped in recent years, advocates say more work needs to be done to properly address mental health among veterans, whose experience overseas can cause lifelong challenges.

Erin Williams has jumped out of airplanes, led a platoon in Afghanistan and earned an Ivy League degree with three young children at home. But the hardest thing to navigate in her military career is finding child care.