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Vice President Harris announced Thursday that $39 billion in funding from Biden’s recently passed coronavirus relief package would be released to help rescue the child-care industry, which has been hit hard in the pandemic.

Calling it the “single largest investment in child care in the nation’s history,” Harris said the funds would help day-care centers and family child-care providers stay open, thereby allowing parents — particularly mothers — to remain in or rejoin the workforce. The pandemic has forced a disproportionate number of women out of their jobs.

Harris pointed out that even before the pandemic, child care was too expensive, difficult to find or inaccessible for many families. And for child-care providers, the pandemic has introduced new expenses while enrollment has dropped.

“The pandemic has accelerated the flaws and the fissures in our systems,” Harris said. “Nearly half of parents say their current child-care situation is unsustainable.”

Harris estimated that the funding would also allow for states, tribes and territories to provide child-care subsidies to more than 800,000 of the country’s neediest families and also increase a tax credit families with children can receive toward the cost of care.

Under the new plan, families making less than $125,000 can receive a tax credit of up to $4,000 for one child and $8,000 for two or more children. Those making between $125,000 and $438,000 can receive a partial credit.

“This is a dramatic expansion and a significant help for more than 7 million families,” Harris said. “Taken together, this historic investment will give child-care providers a chance. It will give child-care providers and workers a lifeline, and it will give parents peace of mind.”

Harris recalled that when she was a child, a neighbor watched Harris and her sister so their mother could work as a cancer researcher.

“Without the care that Mrs. Shelton provided, my mother would not have been able to make the contributions that she did in the effort to find a cure for breast cancer,” Harris said. “For many, many people — and many women in particular — child care has often been the prerequisite for their ability to work. And for many others, child care is their work.”

She continued: “And that’s why in America, child care should be readily available and affordable for all of those who need it. Child-care workers should be paid fairly and treated with dignity and respect, and small-business owners who run child-care centers must be fully supported.”