The United States needs to build a childcare system that supports the healthy development of all children while enabling parents and caregivers to pursue employment and educational opportunities, a report from the American Federation of Teachers, the Center for American Progress, the Center for Law and Social Policy, Community Change, Every Child Matters, MomsRising, the National Women's Law Center, and the Service Employees International Union finds. The report, America, It's Time to Talk About Child Care (26 pages, PDF), argues that large-scale investment in childcare infrastructure would set youngsters on a path to success through early learning, elevate the importance of the early childhood workforce, provide families with urgently needed support, promote racial and gender equity, and stimulate economic growth. According to the report, full-time center-based child care costs an average of $10,000 a year per child, about a fifth of median household income. The report also found that the lack of access to child care limits women's ability to secure living-wage jobs and often keeps women, especially women of color, in poverty; and that childcare workers — 93 percent of whom are women — earn poverty-level wages that undermine their economic security and ability to provide high-quality care. The report's authors call for policies that lower childcare costs for low- and moderate-income families to no more than 7 percent of income; accommodates the frequently unpredictable work schedules of working parents by increasing the availability of child care during non-traditional hours; addresses the problem of childcare "deserts"; ensures accessibility to child care for those with disabilities; promotes high-quality standards and fair compensation and gives providers the resources and support they need; and improves compensation, working conditions, and professional development opportunities for early educators.