Child Care
Every little New Yorker should be supported by an affordable, safe, and culturally responsive universal child care system. Yet parents are consistently unable to access care, which can force them out of the workplace, and child care workers are still among the lowest-paid workers.
Through our polling and research, we provide information and recommendations on how state and local leaders can address the child care crisis in New York and create an equitable system based on a universal, transparent quality rating and improvement system and a justly compensated workforce.
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
Latest Posts
Child care providers are an essential part of a foster child’s success — and they deserve a permanent wage increase.
Being a foster parent is demanding yet crucial work, made possible with the support of various providers who assist with potty training, manage meltdowns, offer developmental suggestions, and love our children as their own. They are an essential part of a young foster child’s success.
Testimony to the Joint Budget Hearing: Taxes: February 2024
We urge New York to strengthen and expand its refundable tax credits in the FY 2025 State budget to have the greatest impact on child poverty.
Testimony to the Joint Legislative Hearing on Human Services: January 2024
Education starts early — during the first 1,000 days (or three years) of a child’s life. New York State spends $23.9B on all early childhood programs, yet the bulk of that investment goes to prekindergarten, Medicaid, and Child Health Plus (CHP). Some programs that receive funding (like CHP and SNAP), serve children outside the 0-5 age range.