National Women's Law Center

The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) works to improve the lives of women and girls, with a focus on those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families.

It provides state-level data analyses, materials, messaging guidance, and technical assistance to advance policies that support women and their families. Child care, family leave, tax policy, pregnancy accommodation, and child nutrition programs are just a few of the many areas central to the lives of women and girls where NWLC’s policy work intersects with state early childhood policy advocacy.

State allies can call on NWLC to:

Equip them with research that helps them fight for child care and early education investments and advance better, more equitable child care and early education policies.

NWLC has extensive research on child care issues for low-income families, communities of color, and early childhood providers, and educators. Resources can focus on strategies for addressing the expiration of pandemic relief funding for child care; the role of family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care; the impact of child care on women’s economic security; and policies that enhance the resiliency of the child care system for the long-term.

Provide analysis of federal and state legislation on child care policies and investment, as well as interrelated income support programs and tax and budget policies that affect the federal and state resources available to support child care.

NWLC equips state-based advocates and grassroots organizers with the knowledge of federal and state policy they need to be forceful advocates in their states. This includes one-on-one technical assistance as well as conference calls, memos, fact sheets, and convenings that facilitate peer-to-peer learning and strengthen state-federal feedback loops.

Provide state-specific data on state child care policies and the use of child care funds.

NWLC tracks, reports, and analyzes state decisions around key child care policies and the use of federal child care funds. NWLC can help state advocates develop their agendas and identify priorities for improving their child care policies and ensuring effective and creative use of federal and state funds to support child care and early education.

Provide guidance and expertise around child care and dependent care tax policies.

NWLC can provide technical assistance to advocates seeking guidance around state tax policies regarding child and dependent care, including providing policy analysis and legislative language. Provide assistance with messaging strategies for support of child care and early education policies. In addition to offering monthly communications strategy workshops, NWLC can offer specific guidance on messaging and campaigns for child care and early education.