Child Care

 

Research shows that the first few years of life are a tremendous time of brain development — a time when child care is essential to nurture the foundation of a child’s learning potential.

Yet New York is facing a child care crisis that is the result of long-standing racial and economic inequities: families of color and from low-income backgrounds are often unable to access affordable care. Child care workers — predominantly women of color — are also still among the lowest-paid workers in the state.

Our Equity-Centered Approach

Alongside our Raising New York coalition partners, we seek to expand child care access and capacity. Our statewide, systemic approach supports the child care workforce by advocating for policies that increase compensation and advance career growth.  The coalition identifies barriers to accessing high-quality, affordable, culturally responsive child care and offers policy solutions to meet families’ needs.

Latest Resource

Brief: The True Cost of High-Quality Child Care Model


This cost model, developed by Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies (P5FS) in partnership with EdTrust-New York and the Raising New York coalition, which exclusively tailored for New York State, projects that New York would need to invest roughly $20 billion into making high-quality child care available to all children from birth to five-years-old, with providers earning a living wage.
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Featured Reports and Resources Over the Years

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Statement: New York Fails to Seize Critical Opportunity for Child Care with Bill Vetoes

In recent years, New York State has made historic investments to expand child care eligibility for middle-class families, yet thousands of families still cannot access these programs. The system remains inequitable, primarily because it lacks a focus on affordability and accessibility for lower-income families.

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Poll: NYC Residents Overwhelmingly Support Investment in Early Childhood Programs

The poll findings highlight the tremendous amount of stress and economic instability New York City families have experienced during the course of the pandemic, something that could be relieved if all families, especially those disproportionately impacted by economic hardship during the pandemic, had access to high-quality, affordable child care.

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Poll: Business Leaders Face Economic Hardship Due to Lack of Employee Access to Child Care

A majority of business leaders (58%) say the lack of accessibility and availability of high-quality child care for infants and toddlers negatively impacts their business, according to a statewide poll, a finding that was especially true among businesses in New York City where two-thirds (67%) of business leaders agreed.

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Blog: The State of Child Care Compensation, and Where We Go From Here

The first three years of a child’s life are critical, a formative period that can lay the groundwork for the best possible outcomes throughout their life. Child care providers, who are predominantly women of color and earn less than 96% of other occupations, are essentially doing anti-poverty work while earning low wages that perpetuate systemic racism and economic inequities in our State.
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Data Snapshot

%

of people in New York State live in a child care desert.

*Center for American Progress

parents from low-income backgrounds report that their child does not attend a child care program due to costs.

*October 2022 poll, Raising New York

More Resources

EdTrust-New York Statement on Assembly and Senate One-House Budget Proposals

by | Mar 11, 2026 |

EdTrust-New York welcomes the Assembly and Senate one-house budget bills and appreciates that both include support for several key educational equity priorities. These proposals invest in initiatives included in the Governor’s Executive Budget, such as universal child care, evidence-based math instruction, professional learning for math and reading educators, high-impact tutoring in math and reading, emergency aid for SUNY and CUNY students, and expanded financial aid through broader eligibility for the state’s Tuition Assistance Program. 

EdTrust-New York Responds to Governor Hochul’s 2026 State of the State with Praise and Calls to Strengthen Educational Equity

by | Jan 14, 2026 |

Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2026 State of the State address includes several important proposals aimed at advancing educational equity, with a strong emphasis on supporting New York’s children and their families through universal child care, investments in the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS), higher education emergency aid, high-impact tutoring in reading and math, and professional learning aligned with the science of reading for in-service teachers.

EdTrust-New York Supports Governor Hochul’s Universal Child Care Vision and Mayor Mamdani’s 3K & 2-Care Expansion to Build a Stronger Early Education System in New York

by | Jan 8, 2026 |

EdTrust-New York welcomes Governor Hochul’s and Mayor Mamdani’s public commitment today to deliver universal child care for all children under five. Every young New Yorker deserves access to affordable, safe, high-quality, and culturally responsive early childhood system, yet too many families cannot secure it.