in Senate bill 1871, a bill whose companion is introduced in the Hous by distinguished Representative Claude Pepper and I've introduce a companion bill to his bill in the Senate. I am delighted to have this opportunity to testify today with Congressman Pepper on this bill.

This bill would require all future public housing projects to include child care facilities to serve the families living there and thus make it possible for the adults in those families to go to work or to undertake training leading to employment. The bill would make Federa funds available to meet the costs of providing these facilities, and these funds would also be available for adding child care facilities to public housing projects which are already in existence. The bill also includes a provision to prevent families from being forced to leave public housing projects on the basis of their increased income wher the new child care facilities make it possible for a second family member to get a job.

Poverty in this country is a complex and deep-rooted problem blighting the lives of some 25 million Americans and in one way or another deeply affecting our entire society. The proposal outlined in S. 1871 is not the only answer to poverty, but the bill does represen a direct attack on one of the most vexing problems which now stand in the way of raising the incomes of poor families, and that problem is the inability of many women with children to seek and accept em ployment-not because they are unwilling to work, not because they lack the skills for work, not because jobs are unavailable, but becaus they cannot find a safe, decent, and reliable means of having their children cared for while they are working.

This problem of nonavailability of child care is being increasingly recognized as one of the major barriers to welfare reform. A recent study by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare found that among those surveyed 45 percent of women getting aid to families with dependent children had a high potential for employment with rated according to their educational background and prior work experience. Despite this high employment potential, 50 percent of thos women reported the poor availability of child care as a condition pre venting or limiting their employment, so that's 45 percent that would be capable of being employed because of their educational background and work experience-50 percent of them said the reason they weren't working is because they didn't have any place to place their children. A number of other studies in recent years have confirmed that lack of child care is a major obstacle to the employment of welfare mothers Be helping to make it possible for the mothers of poor to get employment, S. 1871 will benefit both the families involved and society generally. The families themselves would enjoy higher incomes and, more importantly, the feeling of independence that comes from being able to support themselves rather than having to rely on welfare payments. Society would benefit because those families would become a part of the productive and taxpaying public instead of being merely a burden on other taxpayers, and I think, also, Mr. Chairman, we could say here that the children would in many instances also be greatly benefited because they could be in a child care facility, that they could be getting training and educational training that would help them to be able to compete and to be able to continue their education when they were at the age of entering school.

families

The extent of these benefits is potentially very great indeed. An article in the July 1971 issue of the Monthly Labor Review reports that the median annual income of female-headed families where the mother is not in the labor force is only $3,000 as compared with $4,800 for such families where the mother is working. For families with both mother and father present the difference is proportionally smaller but still significant: $9,900 if the mother is not in the labor force and $11,800 if she is.

In the coming years this Nation will have to meet the problems of an inadequate supply of child care services through a variety of approaches. For a number of reasons the proposal contained in S. 1871 represents in my mind a good starting point in attacking that problem. While child care, or rather, the lack of child care, is a problem for almost all segments of our society, it is a most pressing problem for the poor. S. 1871 would put child care facilities where concentrations of the poor are to be found-in public housing projects. The mothers who live in these projects would be able to obtain child care services and could obtain those services without having to face the expense and difficulty of arranging for the transportation of the children to and from the child care center.

From the point of view of the taxpayer, economies could be expected since the facilities would be part of a complex already being maintained by a public agency. In addition, the location of a child care facility within a public housing project should facilitate the use of mothers living there who are not otherwise employed to help in running the center on either a volunteer or paid basis.

So, Mr. Chairman, I think we actually have the ability to make work because the mothers that are going to be in that public housing facility, they could be utilized as either volunteers or on a paid basis. I also stress again the transportation problem because many mothers, because of long distances in transportation or great difficulty in having their children picked up for transportation run into a safety factor as well as a tremendous expense factor which greatly cuts their ability to use a child care facility someplace else.

I, therefore, urge this committee to give serious consideration to the concepts embodied in S. 1871 as a proposal which will help to meet a pressing need, will enhance the well-being of those who live in public housing, and will be, in general, a useful and rational step along the road to meeting this Nation's poverty and welfare problems.

I am delighted, as I said before, to join in the introduction of this bill with Senator Pepper, who has done a lot of work in this area and whose sound thinking helped to construct this legislation.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chiles.

Congressman Pepper, we would be very glad to hear your statement, now.

STATEMENT OF CLAUDE PEPPER, REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Mr. PEPPER. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I thank you very much for the privilege of appearing here this morning. I am especially grateful to be able to come before this distinguished committee in respect to a matter pertaining to housing, in

respect to which this great committee and its continuing chairman has done so much for America. There are millions of people today who live in better homes and have happier lives because of what the distinguished chairman of this committee and his colleagues on this committee have done to make better homes available for the people of this country, and you know how strongly I support your effort and how much I look forward to our accomplishing even more in the days that are ahead.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me say at this point I greatly appreciate what you have said. As a matter of fact, the housing program that we have today or programs even though they are not doing all that we want done, do constitute such an improvement over what we started out with that I take a great deal of pleasure in looking back over and recalling the progress that we have made, and I think that we have become better and better as we have gone along.

For instance, the very program that you and Senator Chiles are representing is something that in the beginning was not thought of and, certainly, we have done some things along that line and we need to do

more.

I might just propound this question right at this time because it has been running through my mind already while Senator Chiles was making his statement. You know, we have a neighborhood facilities program connected with neighborhood development of open space and the other things that we would like to have in connection with a good program.

Just recently I was at Boaz, Ala. I believe you know where that is. Mr. PEPPER. Yes; I do.

The CHAIRMAN. I was there at the dedication of a neighborhood center, one of these facilities. It included a great many things but it included child care to carry out the very kind of need, the very real need that both of you are talking about in connection with your bill. In addition to that it had athletic equipment and a gymnasium and encouraged outdoor baseball-just a general recreation and neighborhood facility. I thought it was one of the best things that I had ever seen and it was being used primarily by people who lived in public housing that was immediately adjacent, and I was just thinking while Senator Chiles was testifying that I would ask the question of both of you, is it better to tie this to specific public housing projects or is it better to develop these neighborhood projects?

Now, I realize there are some places in which, perhaps, we could not get a neighborhood project, but I would like you to be thinking about how the two could be meshed in together in order that the best job could be done and there would be no overlapping.

Mr. PEPPER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will comment on that inquiry, if I may. I am especially pleased that I am joined in this enterprise or I have the privilege of joining with him, with my distinguished colleague, Senator Chiles. We are very proud of him in Florida. He has already manifested a broad point of view, of deep dedication to the public interest, which is reflected in his concern about these working mothers and their children in the bill S. 1871. the companion bill to my bill in the House of H.R. 7819. The Senator has made a very able and excellent statement revealing his deep grasp

and broad understanding of the nature of the problem and I'm very greatful for the privilege of being associated with him.

Mr. Chairman, that poverty presents a problem for our country is a fact which hardly needs emphasizing. A year ago it appeared that we, as a nation, might actually have been making progress toward the eradication of poverty. During the years 1960 to 1970 the percentage of Americans living in poverty was decreasing at a rate of about 5 percent a year. However, the latest figures from the Bureau of the Census indicate that during 1970 the number of poor persons in the United States rose by 5 percent.

A most important aspect of these statistics is the fact that although families headed by females account for only 14 percent of the population, they account for 44 percent of the poverty population. Further, female-headed families represented the most significant increase in numbers of persons living below the poverty level.

In conjunction with these figures, I would call your attention to a recent study accomplished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which reports that the number of children under 18 whose mothers were in the work force increased more than 10 million between 1960 and 1970 with nearly 26 million children under 18 having working mothers in 1970. So, we are talking about children, Mr. Chairman, as well as about mothers.

These figures speak for themselves. The facts are these: Women are entering the work force at an increasing rate, leaving at home millions of children who need to be cared for; at the same time, the number of families, particularly female-headed families, living below the national poverty level is increasing.

H.R. 7819 and S. 1871 bring before this distinguished subcommittee today the importance of both of these trends as it makes important provisions for working women-particularly those in low-income families. This bill is designed to assist women in contributing to the support of their families by providing for the care of their children during working hours.

These bills will amend the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to provide for the inclusion of child-care facilities in low-rent housing projects, and to provide that the eligibility of a family to remain in such a projectand this is important, Mr. Chairman-the eligibility of a family to remain in such a project despite increases in its total income would be determined solely on the income of the head of the family.

Now, I am aware that under existing law such child-care facilities are permitted, but let me underscore that last word-permitted. The truth of the matter is that few housing developments for the poor give any consideration to this need. All too often we simply throw up another prison for the poor-a bare bones housing project that gives little attention to the special needs of the tenants who will occupy the units.

The implications of H.R. 7819 are numerous. First, it would require preplanning by the local public or private agency involved on how to best meet the needs of the new tenants. Second, it would enable families headed by a female to be self-supporting by insuring that childcare would be convenient and accessible to the mother. In effect, a woman could work and leave her small children at home; that is, within a short distance of their residence. She would not have to spend long

66-138 071 - pt. 2 - 15

hours transporting them to and form a fast plate where then mo way while she worked, and we all know, Mr.CZES care facilities are generally not available anywhere

Further, she would have the assurance that they were in a fam secure environment, a place which they knew. The internty du family would be enhanced as the children enjoyed the positive ence of being in a home which was self-supporting. The family s rely on its own efforts for support and would not have to face then palatable alternative of turning to public assistance.

In those families where both parents are present, the wife could contribute to the support of the family, assured that her children we being well cared for in a center very near their own home, and th family would recognize the improvement in life style resulting fr her employment. In addition, she would not need to worry that increase in income would make them ineligible for the low-rent hous project where they were living, for this bill stipulates that their elig bility would be based solely on the income of the principal wage ear The amount of their rent, however, would, of course, be based on tot family income.

The far-reaching effects of this bill are obvious. Families woul reap a double benefit. The mother could work without weaken family ties or facing the possibility of having to leave her children a questionable child-care situation. The entire family would be sh to recognize a tangible improvement in its standard of living as the income increased.

The presence of child-care facilities in low-cost housing projects would stand as a positive incentive for residents to improve their come level without threat to the development of their children. Th bill represents a most important means of stopping the increase i poverty among our population, enabling us to reverse this trend be fore it becomes further entrenched. Including the construction of child-care centers in low-cost housing projects, paid for in full ş the Federal Government, would be an important step forward in ou commitment to eliminate poverty in this country.

Mr. Chairman, I conclude by saying that my tardiness in arriving here this morning was due to a meeting of the House Select Committe on Crime and we were resolving to look into further than we have done so far, though we have made a beginning the prison situation in this country with respect to its influence on crime.

The Chief Justice of the United States has said that 75 percent of the inmates of prisons go out and come back again so that they are largely a revolving door. I mention that because it has been emphasized in the press that, a lot of the inmates in the Attica prison have been young people. We are all concerned about these young people growing up ir the hold of their environment. Who knows but that some of thes twisted, distorted, frustrated lives that have been in the center of this tragedy at Attica grew from unhealthy, unhappy environments in which those children came into being in their early childhood, in which they lived in the earlier years of their lives, with no proper environment, no proper child care, no proper training, no proper attention, having to fend for themselves a lot of them-they fell into errors of growth that resulted, eventually in their lives being frustrated and their becoming involved in crime.