Key takeaways: The COVID-19 pandemic shrunk child care availability, pushing many working parents, including many women of color and women who are paid low wages, out of formal employment. -Though unemployment assistance and paid (family, medical, and sick) leave can buffer income losses when parents are unable to work because they are caring for their children, the reach and generosity of these programs have been insufficient and uneven across states and territories. - Federal and state policymakers can take the following steps to address and mitigate working parents’ unmet child care needs: - Provide additional emergency and longer-term child care funding and ensure safe school re-openings; - Establish, expand, and extend federal and state paid leave programs; and - Align emergency and permanent unemployment assistance with the lived experiences of working parents. (author abstract)