Child Care Needs To Be On the Agenda

Last week, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak on a panel sponsored by the New America Foundation on Child Care Issues and the Presidential Election. I wanted to share some of those remarks. For the full remarks and for a video of the panel, click here.

Throughout my long career in child care advocacy, I have always heard that it is not the right time for children and families and we don’t have enough money to do what is right. That should not be the starting point for this discussion. For more low-income children to be in the high-quality early childhood settings that we know will improve their chances for better life outcomes, there must be increased investments to support children, parents, early childhood educators, and child care programs – and that is not impossible.

The case for investing in early childhood is strong. Child care plays two critical roles that support our economy. It helps children access the high-quality early learning environments they need to succeed and it helps parents work. In truth, these are equally important and interrelated goals. Helping families pay for child care not only benefits families financially, it also promotes the well-being of children. It does this in several ways: by helping families to afford good-quality care that nurtures their children’s development, by enabling parents to work or to go to school and provide more economic security for their children, and by reducing parents’ stress, which allows them to have more positive interactions with their children. Nearly two decades of research show that increasing family income can positively affect child development, especially for younger children.

Despite the expanding awareness about the importance of better-quality experiences for young children and the importance of child care assistance to help parents work, we still haven’t found the will to ensure that all our children and their families, especially the most vulnerable, have the early childhood opportunities they need. We owe our young children better.

Unlike K-12 education, early childhood does not have an extensive financing stream undergirding it. The bulk of support for early care and education comes from parents. We cannot build a high-quality system that ensures children are in safe and supportive environments and early childhood educators are well compensated if parents are picking up the majority of the costs because they are already stretching themselves as far as they can.

This year, it is challenging to get many issues that affect families on the agenda. With some tough choices, we can find the resources to invest in child care which by helping families work and our young children learn will support a stronger economy right now and in the future.