#InvestEquitably Newsletter (05.27.20)

In the 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama said: “It’s time we stop treating child care as a side issue, or a women’s issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is for all of us.” 

Fast forward five years: a global pandemic has revealed the extent of the gaping deficits and deep inequalities in our economic and social structures, including access to child care.

It's time to invest in child care the same way we invest in other essential public goods and services.

A recent New York Times opinion piece explains how, after COVID-19, many child care providers will be unable to remain open due to our government's classification of these providers and private enterprises, rather than as a public good, like K-12 schools. Yet, child care providers play a crucial role in our society: they make it possible for our workforce to participate in the economy.

Economic empowerment aside, investing in child care and early childhood education infrastructure is also good policy. One longitudinal study shows that for every dollar spent on early child care education, taxpayers saved $2.88 as a result of higher incomes, less need for educational and government services, and reduced health care costs. In short, high-quality, enriched early education environments can help children surmount some of the disadvantages of poverty.

Investing in child care as a public good enables our economy and makes good policy sense, but there's yet another key reason for us to push for progress: child care providers are the early cultivators of the future generation of scientists, engineers, teachers, lawyers, firefighters, artists, doctors, and more. Let's push to #InvestEquitably, rebuild a better economy, create a stronger social fabric, and ensure a better future.