WASHINGTON – As part of her crusade to help working women, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced legislation Sunday that would more than double the federal child care tax credit.

Gillibrand (D-NY) said that the sky-high cost of child care in New York forces many women to quit their jobs and stay home with their children, resulting in “less income for working families, more women leaving the workforce and a weaker middle class.”

“This isn’t a lifestyle choice. This is a fact of survival for many New York City families,” she said at a press event at her city office.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can keep more working mothers in their jobs, and more children in quality day care – when we make it affordable – and make our policies reflect today’s reality that women have to work for a living,” said Gillibrand.

Her bill would more than double the federal child care tax credit and make the credit refundable, allowing working parents to receive a maximum credit of $3,000 for one child.

The current maximum credit $1,050.

The average family in the city spends about $15,210 per year for an infant, $12,116 for a toddler and $10,920 for a school-age child, according to new data from the NY State Office of Child and Family Services.

That’s among the highest child-care rates in the country.

Gillibrand also announced a bill that would create a new child care tax deduction for middle-class families, allowing them to deduct as much as $14,000-a-year for child care expenses or $7,000 for one child.

She made the announcements surrounded by city parents and child-care advocates.

The tax breaks are part of series of proposals that Gillibrand dubbed her “American opportunity Agenda,” which includes legislation for equal pay for women, paid family and medical leave, a higher federal minimum wage and universal Pre-K.