Child Care

Child care is an essential support for families with young children.

A trusted child care provider helps ensure that children get off to the best possible start to life, providing care to children while their parents work or pursue an education. High quality child care helps families achieve economic security and provides a nurturing environment for children to explore, play, and learn.

Unfortunately, for too many families in New York State, child care is instead a constant challenge to manage. Many families simply cannot find a care setting that meets their needs, or they face long waitlists for the program near their home or work. Because of systemic issues with New York’s approach to child care, the existing care options are inadequate to meet the needs of our state’s families and children. Parents can’t afford to pay more for child care, but providers can’t afford to charge less. This impacts both the capacity of the child care system and the quality of care that families receive.

That’s why The Children’s Agenda advocates for a universal system that ensures quality, affordable child care in every community, and thriving wages for every educator.