Child Care

The True Cost of Child Care

Recent efforts at the community, state, and federal levels have examined and addressed some of the fiscal issues related to the prenatal-to-five system, and New York has made some of the fundamental first steps to improving access to child care for all families.

A new cost model tool, developed by Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies (P5FS) in partnership with The Education Trust–New York and the Raising NY coalition, is an opportunity to build on these efforts. The tool projects how much it would cost New York State to provide access to high-quality child care for all children under five by looking at various scenarios.

Poll: Parents’ challenges in accessing high-quality child care

*Source: October 2022 Raising NY poll

Our October 2022 poll finds that New York State parents of young children found that across all racial groups, parents of young children have encountered challenges accessing child care. Among other key findings, the poll also found that while parents overall are satisfied with their child care program, their experiences with some areas of the system can vary widely across racial lines.

Report: Living in a child care desert

Report: New York’s Capacity Crisis

There is a major child care capacity problem in New York State — seven out of 10 child care centers and half of family child care providers are at maximum capacity for infants, and most have a waitlist. And many providers are running on a deficit and have difficulty offering competitive wages and benefits.

Report: New York’s Infant and Toddler Workforce