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For children, the early years are critical for healthy brain development and lay the foundation for future educational achievement, economic productivity and lifelong health. Equitable access to affordable, high-quality, culturally sensitive child care and early learning opportunities can change lives, shape the trajectories of our youngest New Yorkers, and provide them with a strong foundation on which to thrive and thrive. The benefits of childcare also extend to parents. Research has shown that high-quality child care and early learning programs have a high return on investment for both children and parents.1 In order to work or participate in education and workforce development activities that will improve their financial stability, parents need to know where children are in safe and nurturing environments with early childhood educators who are caring and well paid. Children, in turn, benefit from the financial stability of their parents and teachers. As a result, childcare and early learning policies have a significant and overlapping impact on children, their families, early educators and childcare staff working in the sector.
Opening A Daycare In New York
Over the past year, the pandemic has threatened the health, well-being, and economic stability of children and families, especially women, low-income families, and communities of color. In particular, when child care programs and schools were closed, working parents lost the supervision they had previously relied on for their children, hindering their ability to work. Women, who tend to be responsible for the majority of family caregiving, were more likely to be forced to quit their jobs or reduce their work hours due to the pandemic.2 In addition, families of color struggled to find treatment; during the worst part of the pandemic, 56% of Black New Yorkers strongly agreed that the city did not have enough child care options for working parents, compared to 47% of all New Yorkers.3
New Rules For Ny Day Care Centers Regulate Naps
As the pandemic has eroded New York’s child care industry, it has also revealed a deep crisis that preceded it: an inadequate child care infrastructure that has long posed significant challenges for parents, children, providers who own and direct programs, and early education and other staff. The supply of high-quality care options has long been insufficient to meet demand, and at the same time, available options have been financially out of reach for most families. The child care workforce, which is predominantly women of color and immigrants, has historically been undercompensated for its core work, which further strains the industry by leading to a stressed workforce, high turnover and employment challenges, which can also impact availability and quality of care.4
The inadequacy and complexity of child care in New York is evident throughout the system. Child care in the city is funded, administered, and regulated by a complex mix of state and local agencies and structures, including the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and the Department of Education (DOE), with certain funding for some programs depends on revenue coming from the federal government. These agencies offer underfunded services that fail to ensure that all children have equal access to high-quality care. While OCFS has developed basic health and safety requirements and DOE has developed a framework for early childhood quality before kindergarten (pre-K), 5 there has been a lack of coordinated investment and attention to social care that supports emotional, cognitive, mental, and physical health in all contexts. , from schools to centers to home-based providers. At the same time, these agencies have not had or committed the resources to invest in the necessary professional development and compensation for the child care and early learning workforce. This increased long-standing racial and economic disparities between New York City providers and the children in their care.
With an influx of federal funds for child care through the American Rescue Plan Act and the Governor’s FY22 budget proposal to use $2.3 billion6 of those funds to expand the availability, quality, and affordability of child care, New York’s next mayor has a unique chance – a lifetime opportunity to build a child care model that works for all New Yorkers. This system must ensure affordable, quality childcare, provide better and fairer-paying jobs for all childcare workers, and enable parents and other caregivers to rejoin the paid workforce, extend working hours and restart careers.
The next mayoral administration must prioritize a child care and early learning system that provides sufficient public funding to equitably provide affordable, high-quality child care when and where they need it. This includes infant and toddler care, nursery, after school and summer care in a range of high quality settings. (Although this section focuses on the needs of children from birth to age 5, it is important to emphasize that early care is only part of the picture, and parents and children need help after school and during the summer until age 12, and for children with disabilities development up to age 18).7 The next mayor must also ensure that early childhood educators and childcare staff have access to professional development, mental health support and allowances to support their families. These investments are critical for household economic mobility and positive outcomes for children and must be targeted primarily at those whose well-being depends on them. Specifically, the next mayor should:
Why New York’s Affordable Child Care Centers Are Closing
By implementing the recommended policies, the next mayor can more equitably support New York’s parents and caregivers: by helping them return to work and increase work hours and earnings; ensure that New York’s early childhood educators and child care staff have quality, sustainable jobs; and help more young New Yorkers get a good start in life. The next administration should aim, by the end of the new mayor’s first term, to take important steps towards universal childcare and early learning:
According to an analysis by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, the policy recommendations in this document are expected to reduce New York’s under-3 poverty rate by 5 to 8 percent. For children who directly benefit from the policy, there would be a reduction in poverty by 20 to 25 percent. 12
Introducing “From Crisis to Opportunity: A Policy Agenda for a Fair New York” Policy Recommendations for a Fair New York Building High-Quality Child Care and Early Learning Infrastructure for New York City Creating High-Quality, Inclusive, and Equitable Educational Experiences for All New York City Students Promote Fast and an equitable economic recovery from COVID-19 for New York City Strengthening housing stability and more opportunities for low-income families in New York Strengthening New York’s nonprofit human services industry Reinventing fairer policing and public safety New York’s system
Investing in New York City’s child care system would help reduce poverty, increase family economic stability, ensure healthy child development, and increase the ability of parents and caregivers, especially mothers, to work and earn a living, making it a win-win.
The Cost Of Child Care In New York: A Breakdown (2022 Update)
To support the well-being of all New York’s children today and prepare them for success in the future, the City must provide them with affordable, high-quality early education and child care options. High-quality, affordable childcare supports children’s well-being in two ways: first, by promoting their positive early learning experiences, and second, by enabling parental employment, which increases family income and well-being. As James Heckman puts it, “Child care has a two-generation effect when combined with quality early learning: mothers increase their income as children gain skills to succeed in school and in life.”13 Studies have shown that family income affects children’s cognitive development. . , physical health, and social and behavioral development as it relates not only to the ability of parents to invest in goods and services that promote child development, but also to stress and stress. can negatively affect their children.14
According to Harvard University’s Center for the Developing Child, “Healthy development in the early years (especially from birth to age three) provides the building blocks for academic success, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health.” life, strong communities and successful parenting of the next generation.”15 Inadequate and unstable care can affect children’s physical and mental well-being, school readiness and long-term economic mobility. Unstable care systems can have long-term consequences that lead to poverty or economic insecurity in adulthood, simply because stable, high-quality care can lead to higher graduation rates, higher lifetime earnings, better health, and a host of other positive outcomes.16 To date, the city has not provided adequate priorities to ensure that childcare and early learning programs provide high-quality care. As a result, all too often families with more financial means can pay for quality while those with less
