Cat Wise: According to one study, a typical family in Mississippi with an infant and a 4-year-old has to spend about 20 percent of their income on child care. But there are federal programs to help low-income parents, Head Start and child care subsidies in the form of vouchers. And neither program is universal. Carol Burnett is director of the nonprofit Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. Carol Burnett: We do a lot of work trying to help parents navigate the mine field of applying for a child care voucher. And it's not just the funding. It's the application process that's incredibly burdensome, the multiple obstacles that stand in the way. Cat Wise: Nationally, only one in seven children who are eligible for child care subsidies under federal rules actually receive them. Lea Austin: It is a critical part of our infrastructure. Cat Wise: Child care as a safety net program is just not working, according to U.C. Berkeley's Lea Austin. She's the director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Lea Austin: There is not enough of those child care subsidies today to make sure everybody who needs it gets access to it. And so those — that just has a domino effect, right? If you can't — we know, if you can't access child care, the impact that has on your ability to work. You may not work at all. You may have to reduce your earnings.