The number of state lawmakers in Virginia who are moms with young kids has more than doubled over the last two years. A new child care stipend for members of the Virginia House of Delegates aims to make it easier for parents to seek higher office — and stay there.
House Speaker Don Scott (D–Portsmouth), who came up with the stipend, says he was shocked to learn that there wasn’t a child care benefit available for lawmakers when he was first elected in 2019.
At the time, his daughter was 11.
“My daughter had a schedule like a CEO after school, so she had all these activities going on,” Scott said. “So we'd have to pay somebody to pick her up and take her here, take her there and take her back home.”
He worried about the lack of support for lawmakers with even younger kids.
“How do you encourage young parents to participate in this system who are elected if they have to worry about child care while they're here?” Scott asked.
Across the country, less than 8% of state lawmakers are moms to kids under the age of 18. But Virginia’s number — just over 14%, the third-highest percentage in the U.S. — is higher than average, largely due to the 2023 influx of newly elected legislators with young kids.
In 2022 there were nine Virginia lawmakers with kids under the age of 18, compared with 20 during the 2024 legislative session.
The new, $300 weekly stipend helps parents cover child care costs and is available for each child under the age of 12. The stipend is also available for youth 17 and under with disabilities.
This year, 15 delegates have taken advantage of the program — including seven dads and five Republicans. The program is currently limited to the House of Delegates, and there isn’t a similar program available in the Virginia Senate.
Scott pointed out that some lawmakers this session have newborn babies, including Del. Adele McClure (D–Arlington), who has a 3-month-old daughter named Mia.
McClure admits it’s been challenging to work sometimes 15-hour days while still recovering from childbirth and regularly pumping breast milk. The new General Assembly Building does have lactation rooms with refrigerators, though; the old building did not.
“Especially while I'm nursing and pumping … it does make me think about the sustainability of continuing to be a lawmaker for a long time,” McClure said.
Preparing for this year’s session, McClure wasn’t sure what to do about child care for Mia. Without the stipend, she said she would’ve had to pay a significant amount out of pocket.
“And by then I'd probably be spending myself out of this seat, because that $17,000 that we make per year would have been gone to child care,” she said.
Luckily, Adele McClure’s mother — who worked for many years as an early child care educator — was able to take a leave of absence to help watch Mia. She’s been staying with her daughter and granddaughter in an Airbnb during the session.
McClure knew her mom needed income and was glad the stipend could compensate her. Without it, the delegate said she would’ve had to pay her mom herself.
“Because she knows that this stipend is here, she feels more comfortable taking this as a form of payment,” McClure said.
While McClure said the benefit is a meaningful step toward making child care more affordable, it wouldn’t be enough to hire a full-time caregiver for Mia while she’s working in the General Assembly.
The estimated cost for high-quality child care in Virginia per week is nearly $500 for infants and over $400 for toddlers. That’s just for weekday hours.
“I'm proud of the progress that we've made, but we have to make even more progress if we are going to make this an attractive role for parents and new parents alike who are looking to run for office,” McClure said.
According to the Vote Mama Foundation, an organization that researches the political participation of mothers, lack of affordable child care is among the top reasons why parents of young kids don’t run for office.
Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D–Alexandria), who is also using the child care stipend, said research shows lawmakers who are parents are more likely to introduce legislation that impacts parents.
That’s been true in the General Assembly: Bennett-Parker sponsored legislation to help address the workforce shortage of early childhood educators by ensuring they have access to affordable, state-subsidized child care. After passing the House 85–12, it died in the Senate.
McClure carried legislation asking employers to contribute a share of the cost of child care. That bill was killed in the Senate after the House approved it 84–15 — though a version ultimately made it into the joint budget proposal as an amendment.
And Dels. Chris Obenshain (R–Montgomery County) and Phil Hernandez (D–Norfolk) — also child care stipend recipients — carried legislation to make child care more affordable and accessible. However, neither made it out of the House before crossover.
“Having members in the General Assembly who are actively parenting children and understand the challenges of working families is incredibly important,” Bennett-Parker said.
Last session, when Bennett-Parker’s daughter was a newborn, she was able to find a nanny share in Richmond. But this session, her daughter is staying with Bennett-Parker’s husband at their Northern Virginia home during the week.
While her 20-month-old goes to day care during the day, they’re using the stipend to help pay for additional evening care when Bennett-Parker’s husband has to work late.
Richmond Del. Rae Cousins is a single mom to a 3-year-old girl, which she said comes with its own unique challenges.
“All of that responsibility falls on me when it's just us at home,” she said.
Cousins, a Democrat, decided to run for office when her daughter was 6 months old and said there was no way she could’ve managed campaigning without the support of her retired parents.
During session, they’ve been dropping Cousins’ daughter off at day care in the mornings and picking her up in the evenings. They often keep her overnight during the week.
Cousins is using the child care stipend to help pay for day care, but also to reimburse her parents for expenses they incur when caring for their granddaughter.
“You would think that because I live here, it would be easier. But it's still challenging just because of the hours that we have to be here,” Cousins said.
The progress toward a more family-friendly General Assembly is accelerating. For example, the House of Delegates recently allowed Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D–Henrico) to vote virtually because she gave birth in early February — the first time the accommodation was made.
But Cousins said it would also be nice to have on-site child care at the General Assembly.
"It would be great to have a place where I can bring my daughter in the afternoons, in the evenings, after she gets out of day care,” she said.
In Alaska, there’s a lottery-based child care facility available for legislative employees and legislators. According to the Vote Mama Foundation, a few other states, like New York and Florida, also have on-site child care for lawmakers.
There isn’t a plan to add a child care facility at Virginia’s new General Assembly Building — at least for now.
