It’s time to invest in our youngest and those who care for them.

Together, we can guarantee quality care for every child, pay caregivers fairly, and make childcare affordable for families.

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Vision

Vision

We envision a universal public childcare system that allows families to flourish. When high-quality, affordable care is treated as a public good, it would free a parent to take a promotion at work, confident that they don’t have to make a choice between parenthood and a career. Childcare providers would be able to make ends meet with a liveable wage and benefits, allowing them to deepen their expertise. And communities would grow stronger, where people create opportunities with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that care is available.

A nationwide universal public childcare system would mean children arrive in kindergarten curious, confident, and cared for, parents live with less stress, and affordable childcare is as readily accessible in towns across the country as the local library or the fire station. When care providers are treated like the professionals they are, universal public childcare will turn undervalued work into dignified careers and begin to mend long-standing racial and gender inequities.

Challenge

Challenge

For years, policymakers and powerful interests have treated childcare as a private consumer good rather than a public responsibility, leaving families to sort through a thin patchwork of programs, while providers operate on razor thin margins. That approach never added up. In 41 states, childcare now costs more than in-state college tuition. The affordability crises in housing, healthcare, and groceries that families are experiencing is compounded by an annual average cost of $11,582 per child for care. And even if parents can afford it, openings are scarce, waitlists stretch for months, or the nearest center is hours away.

From caregivers’ perspective, the math is just as strained. Childcare is labor intensive by design, but wages have been held down for decades. Providers cannot raise wages without increasing prices for families beyond what they can afford. Early childhood workers earn far less than K-12 educators and less than almost every other profession, which fuels constant vacancies and churn and forces centers to close even when demand is high. Families lose options, kids lose continuity, and providers burn out.

Public investment has already shown what works. Emergency relief during the pandemic steadied programs, kept classrooms open, and brought more families in. When that support ended, the old dynamics returned: unstable supply, high prices, and a workforce leaving for better pay. In that vacuum, private equity expanded their footprint, and care divides grew, with rural and low income communities hit hardest. The lesson is clear. Childcare cannot function as a private market good. It needs permanent public funding that grows supply, lifts wages, and sets accountable standards so every family can access high-quality affordable care.

What We Do

What We Do

We are partnering with parents, providers, grassroots organizers, and policy leaders to move from a patchwork to a public system, work through real tensions, and center the workforce so no one is left behind in the transition to a universal public system. Together with the Roosevelt Institute and Community Change, our report, Building a Vision for Universal Public Childcare: Principles for a Childcare System That Works for Workers and Families, reflects on a year-long series of conversations with parents, providers, and organizers to envision a path to universal public childcare for the U.S. In this vision, parents have access to affordable, universal care no matter their income or zip code. Every child has a safe, nurturing place to learn and grow during their formative years, professional pay, benefits, and bargaining rights are provided for early educators; and robust engagement and transition supports that bring small, independent providers into the new system

To be successful, a universal public childcare model must be:

• Affordable: Accompanied by a significant federal investment to make childcare affordable (if not free) and expand access by encouraging providers to join or stay in the industry
• Universal: Universally accessible, with childcare as a legal right to all children with an affirmative obligation to ensure sufficient spots exist.
• Coordinated and Streamlined: Upheld by coordinated, non-fragmented governance structures; Federally administered through state and/or regional infrastructure to support implementation and expansion.
• Support a Thriving, Diverse Workforce: Offer thriving wages and benefits to a valued and well-resourced workforce, as well as support workers’ right to organize and collective bargaining.
• Inclusive and Culturally Competent: Provide culturally and linguistically competent care, options of expanded hours outside of the school day, and universally accessible services for early intervention and services for children with disabilities.
• Safe and High-Quality: Child-centered safety and quality with strong and consistent guidelines built with parent, family, and worker input.
• Built with a “Just Transition”: A universal system must be built through a process that includes a just transition for the current workforce.

Our Team

Our Team