As we turn our focus from emergency child care to building a strong early care system for the future, it is important to frame child care as a fundamental necessity that requires significant and smart investment.
The pandemic has opened our eyes to the fact that our child care infrastructure is truly essential to our state’s families and economy. It was not able to fully respond to families and communities before COVID-19 – and much of it collapsed under the pressures of the pandemic.
It’s time to call for a bold commitment to invest in our essential child care infrastructure – so our employment rate recovers quickly, and all our children and families flourish in the long run.
Using infrastructure language frames discussions with community leaders around child care as a “public good.” It’s an analogy that helps prioritize significant financial investment and ongoing analysis of systems and performance in order to support families and the overall state economy.
As we advocate for immediate relief to support reopening and for a more long-term focus on supporting working families, we need to pivot to a bold comprehensive demand for a smart, well-funded early care system in our states. Like transportation and electricity, strong child care infrastructure helps families live their fullest lives and fuels economic growth.
This guide contains language, tips, and resources for framing child care as essential state infrastructure:
- Dos and Don’ts
- Sample Op-Ed
- Talking Points
- Sample One-Pager
- Sample Social Media Posts
This policy guide can help guide your conversation about a policy agenda that treats early care and education as essential state infrastructure.
- Access and Affordability
- Advancing the Early Care and Education Profession
- Reforming Child Care Financing
- Building Better Business Models
