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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.

Our Child Care Facilities Are in Crisis But There Are Solutions

Business, Nonprofits, Chambers of Commerce Build Coalitions

Mark Swartz·October 8, 2020·3 min read

In the morning, as children dash into their preschools and home-based care sites, hanging coats and finding favorite toys or...

A Universal Preschool Campaign in Oregon Galvanizes Broad Support and Rewrites All the Rules

Elliot Haspel·October 20, 2020·6 min read

In this two-part series, Elliot Haspel explores how one Oregon region mobilized to generate an innovative, next-generation plan for universal...

Top Takeaways from the Home Grown Conversation: Measuring Emergency Funds’ Impact in COVID-19

Natalie Renew·October 21, 2020·3 min read

Because we can’t take our Early Learning Nation Studio on the road during this time, stay tuned as ELN recaps...

Mighty, Mighty Bosses

Florida Executives Apply Peer Pressure to Advance Early Childhood

Mark Swartz·October 23, 2020·3 min read

“We as a nation are taking parenting seriously for the first time,” economic researcher Martha Gimbel recently told The Washington...

An Electoral “Children’s Wave”

Q&A with Children's Funding Project Founder Elizabeth Gaines

Elliot Haspel·November 17, 2020·6 min read

On November 3rd, seven early childhood ballot initiatives went before voters in cities and counties around the nation. All seven...

The Other Child Care Crisis: No Staff

Elliot Haspel·December 9, 2020·5 min read

The SouthSide Early Childhood Center in St. Louis is the oldest child care program west of the Mississippi, founded all...

Bank Street Makes the Case for Compensation

Puts Pay at the Center of the Child Care Dialogue

Mark Swartz·December 15, 2020·3 min read

It isn’t the 1950s anymore. The reality before and, presumably, after the pandemic, is that parents are outside of home...

Universal Child Care Neither New Idea Nor Unprecedented

Bryce Covert·January 12, 2021·3 min read

The idea of creating a national, universal child care system in this country got a turn in the spotlight during...

Opinion: The Era of Child Care Incrementalism is Over

Child Care is Now a Top-Tier Bipartisan Issue

Elliot Haspel·January 27, 2021·5 min read

It can be difficult to realize you’ve reached a tipping point until you’re on the other side, like crossing a...

Opinion: Here Come The Tired Arguments Against Universal Child Care — Reject Them

Elliot Haspel·February 5, 2021·9 min read

This is why we can’t have nice things. Finally, at long last, bipartisan momentum is building towards an affordable, accessible,...