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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.

Ai-jen Poo, Founder of National Domestic Workers Alliance, Discusses Why Now is the Time for Transforming Our Undervalued and Largely Unseen Care Workforce

Bryce Covert·February 24, 2021·10 min read

Decades before the Covid pandemic, Ai-jen Poo realized that domestic workers who care for children and the elderly had few...

FILM REVIEW: “Through The Night:” An Intimate Portrait of Family Child Care Reveals Deeper Truths About Caregiving

Elliot Haspel·March 4, 2021·4 min read

Early on in the recently released documentary Through The Night, Deloris “Nunu” Hogan circles up the group of children under...

OPINION: Nearly Half of Child Care Teachers Leave Every Year — Why Aren’t We Talking About This?

Elliot Haspel·March 16, 2021·6 min read

Imagine you are building a car. You invest in a solid chassis, make sure the wheels are inflated, oil the...

#KidsAreEssential: New Public Education Project Brings Together a Robust, Bipartisan Coalition to Capture the Child Care Moment

Mark Swartz·March 18, 2021·4 min read

“Families are maxed out,” says Myra Jones-Taylor. “Not just children, but their parents and the support networks they rely upon.”...

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...

Child Care is Infrastructure. Biden’s Relief Bill Understands That

Bryce Covert·April 8, 2021·7 min read

After signing a $1.9 trillion relief bill into law, President Joe Biden is taking on his next big policy priority:...

The American Rescue Plan Provides a Blueprint for Keeping Kids Safe and Reducing Reliance on the Foster Care System

Kendra Hurley·April 13, 2021·5 min read

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden has been lauded as a “force for...

A woman making a kissing face at a baby she's holding up, with a sun setting behind them

The “Child Care For Working Families Act”: Transition Fuel for Universal Child Care (3-Part Series, Part 1)

Series: Which Path Forward?: Analyzing the Flurry of Federal Child Care Proposals

Elliot Haspel·April 28, 2021·8 min read

When I declared on this site a few months back that “The Era of Child Care Incrementalism Is Over,” I had no idea how much April would prove the point. Not only is the White House gearing up to release the American Families Plan -- which will include, per the Washington Post, over $400 billion in early care & education funding -- but on Thursday, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Bobby Scott reintroduced a new iteration of the Child Care For Working Families Act (CCWFA).

The United States Used to Have Universal Child Care–Will We Do It Again?

Bryce Covert·May 7, 2021·5 min read

Universal child care is getting a turn in the spotlight. President Joe Biden has proposed universal preschool for all American...

The Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act: The Boldest Plan On Offer Is Quietly Received (3-Part Series, Part 2)

Series: Which Path Forward?: Analyzing the Flurry of Federal Child Care Proposals

Elliot Haspel·May 25, 2021·6 min read

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was in many ways the match that lit the current child care moment. Before the world had...