Random

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.

Lack of High-Quality, Affordable Childcare Takes Its Toll on Parents, Workplaces, Economy

Tom Kertscher·March 10, 2020·4 min read

In each year from 2016 through 2018, more than 2 million parents of children age 5 and younger suffered “job...

Build Back Better Helps, Not Hurts, Faith-Based Child Care

Critics are Overselling the Changes While Religious Programs Fight for Their Lives

Elliot Haspel·December 2, 2021·7 min read

While the investments in early care and education appear broadly safe, one unresolved design question concerns what should be required of child care programs operated by faith communities.

Innovations in Child Care: Meeting Parents’ Diverse Needs and Preferences

Part 2 of a 5-Part Series

Rebecca Gale·June 30, 2022·8 min read

Our country is in a child care crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, which has shown how difficult it is for...

Squaring Up with History: Child Trends’ Chrishana Lloyd and Julianna Carlson Dig Deep on the Value of Care

Mark Swartz·November 4, 2022·5 min read

A new report commissioned by the Early Educator Investment Collaborative—Mary Pauper: A Historical Exploration of Early Care and Education Compensation,...

OPINION: American Rescue Plan: the United States Finally Invests Serious Resources in Our Children

Bryce Covert·March 19, 2021·5 min read

The United States has finally decided to invest serious resources in our children. It just took a pandemic for it...

New York City’s 60-year-old Fight for Universal Child Care

Today’s Activists Are Part of A Long, Historic Struggle. Will They Succeed?

Kendra Hurley·June 29, 2022·8 min read

As a federal plan to make child care affordable languishes in Congress, New York City has joined the growing number...

Before Coronavirus, the U.S. Child Care Landscape Was Already in Crisis

Our Broken Child Care System and How to Fix It, Part 1

Laura Justice and Mark Swartz·May 5, 2020·6 min read

In this three-part series, Dr. Laura Justice—executive director of the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at The...

5 Top Takeaways from the Conversation: Early Childhood Philanthropic Leaders Discuss Deploying Risk Capital

Mark Swartz·September 15, 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...

What Does Accountable and Justice-Oriented Early Childhood Education Look Like?

Part 5 of a 5-Part Series

Ai Binh Ho·September 21, 2022·25 min read

Many immigrant parents express fear around ECE centers. They worry that their child rearing practices, which may be historically rooted and culturally normative, may be viewed as abuse in the U.S. They also fear being tracked, monitored or reported.