US Sen. Jeff Merkley announced the launch of a new investigation into the role of private equity firms in making childcare increasingly unaffordable for American families.

Merkley, the Oregon Democrat who serves as ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent letters to KinderCare Learning Companies and Learning Care Group (LCG), the two largest childcare companies controlled by private equity firms, seeking information about the impact of the relentless profit-seeking of their owners on day-to-day business decisions.

Among other things, Merkley wants the companies to provide insight into the influence that their private equity owners exert over facility acquisition, expansion plans, staffing levels, employee wages and benefits; and capital investments.

Merkley is also asking the companies to “describe how tuition increases… are determined and whether financial obligations to lenders or owners are considered in pricing decisions.” He also noted that both KinderCare and LCG faced serious accusations of mismanagement in multiple states.

KinderCare, which is owned by Switzerland-based private equity firm Partners Group, has been cited by state regulators in Indiana and Wisconsin for maintaining facilities with “inadequate supervision, staff-to-child ratio violations, unsafe or unsanitary conditions, and failures to report or respond appropriately to alleged abuse,” Merkley wrote.

LCG, which is owned by private equity firm American Securities, operates facilities that have been reported for health and safety violations in numerous states, including Georgia, Missouri, and Texas, Merkley noted, “with incidents involving children left unattended on buses, supervision failures, and alleged physical abuse by staff.”

Merkley said he was concerned that the failings at these facilities were being driven by the profit considerations at Partners Group and American Securities.

“Private equity firms have increasingly brought their playbook to essential care industries,” said Merkley, “buying up independent providers, rolling them into large chains, and prioritizing investor profits over the well-being of the families and communities that depend on these services.”

The senator urged both the childcare companies and their private equity owners to “fully cooperate with this investigation.”

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