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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.

Vermont Makes Child Care History with a Bipartisan Veto Override

Success Credited to a Decade of Advocacy, Lobbying Efforts, Coalition Building

Rebecca Gale·June 27, 2023·4 min read

On Tuesday, June 20, Vermont’s state legislature met in a special legislative session to consider a bipartisan veto override of...

Did Covid Break Child Care or Was It Already Broken? A Brief Explainer

Rebecca Gale and Dianne Kirsch (Illustrator)·June 21, 2023·2 min read

Support for this project was provided by Better Life Lab at New America...

Decline of Home-Based Child Care Options Sours Parents’ Perception of the Child Care Market

Natalie Renew·June 7, 2023·6 min read

Home-based child care is the most prevalent form of child care in the United States and particularly for infants and...

Think Child Care is Hard to Find? Try Being a Parent Who Works Early Mornings, Late Nights or Weekends

Bryce Covert·May 17, 2023·6 min read

It’s hard enough to find child care in this country that is dependable and affordable when working a regular 9...

Will Biden’s First Term Have a Lasting Impact on the Child Care Sector?

New Annual Budget Devotes $600 Billion Over 10 Years to Child Care and Early Childhood Education

Bryce Covert·April 5, 2023·6 min read

The race to elect the next president hasn’t officially started, but soon President Joe Biden will turn toward defending his...

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...