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Child Care Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our already fragile child care system. Providers have closed, others are struggling, and everyone it seems is realizing that without child care, America can’t get back to work. (Yes, child care is infrastructure.) Early Learning Nation is covering the field with rigor and nuance from a historical perspective (Universal Child Care was a great success during WWII), to the latest legislative proposals and to ways that we must transform the way we treat our undervalued and largely unseen child care workforce.

Private-Equity’s Growth in Child Care Chains Imperils Access for Many Families, Research Finds

Bruno J. Navarro·March 29, 2023·5 min read

The number of investor-backed, for-profit child care chains in the United States has been growing in recent years, creating additional...

Harvard’s Nonie Lesaux on the Long and Winding Road to High-Quality, Universal Child Care

Mark Swartz·March 15, 2023·6 min read

Early education advocates cheered when President Biden’s State of the Union address noted that children who attend preschool are nearly...

Better Communities Collaborative in Athens, Ga. Supports Families and Communities, Inspires Others

Mark Swartz·March 7, 2023·4 min read

Southern Living magazine calls it the South’s Best College Town, but Athens-Clark County also has its challenges, including a 30%...

Educator Burnout: Another Child Care Struggle

Rebecca Gale·February 28, 2023·5 min read

Jennifer Trippett remembers the signs going up. In late 2021, fast food restaurants in the Bridgeport, West Virginia area announced...

Neighborhood Villages: The Pathway to Professionalism is Paved with Apprenticeships

K.C. Compton·February 22, 2023·8 min read

“There is growing agreement on the need for more highly skilled child care teachers and an increased awareness that teachers...

OPINION: Let’s Not Throw Out Market Rate Surveys Just Yet: Funding Child Care in Today’s World

Dr. Theresa Hawley·February 17, 2023·4 min read

The child care market in the U.S. is broken. Despite rising prices for care, child care workers continue to make...

Can the Congressional Dads Caucus Help Break the Logjam on Family-Friendly Policies?

Bryce Covert·February 14, 2023·7 min read

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy made headlines and history when it took 15 rounds of votes for his...

1 in 4 Parents Report Being Fired for Work Interruptions Due to Child Care Breakdowns

Chabeli Carrazana·February 6, 2023·6 min read

Originally published by The 19th; republished here with permission under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Nearly one in 4 parents...

How Child Care in Oregon is Saving the Construction Trade

Statewide apprenticeship program with generous child care subsidies also trains and recruits workers

Rebecca Gale·January 30, 2023·4 min read

There has been a construction boom in Oregon. Demand in the trade continues to rise yet 90 percent of construction...

WeeSubsidy: A New Way to Balance Child Care Market Forces

Mark Swartz·January 18, 2023·3 min read

The laws of supply and demand have never quite applied to child care, and no state exemplifies this conundrum as...