A National Analysis of the State of ECE Access: Our History and Future

1. A National Analysis of the State of ECE Access: Our History and Future Rasheed A. Malik Policy Analyst Early Childhood Policy Center for American Progress rmalik@americanprogress.org @ramskull

2. Brief History Lesson • Infant Schools movement starts in 1820s, alongside development of • public schools in cities such as Boston, New York, Cincinnati, and Detroit • EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS • Social • Economic • Civic • Moral • Even bigger for the poor • Originally focused on teaching morality to children in poverty • Middle-class and affluent families become interested in benefits, even • concerned that poor children were getting a “Head Start” • Remarks on the Influence of Mental Excitement upon Health (1833) • Donations from upper class fall off sharply, as • Brigham’s work becomes popularly known

3. Lanham Act (1943-1946) • Federally-subsidized wartime child care centers, available to all “The closing of childcare centers throughout the country certainly is bringing to light the fact that these centers were a real need. Many thought they were purely a war emergency measure. A few of us had an inkling that perhaps they were a need which was constantly with us, but one that we had neglected to face in the past.” -Eleanor Roosevelt • FULL LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION • Open six days a week, $0.50/day • ASU Prof. Chris Herbst has found that the program increased maternal employment, and had strong and persistent positive effects for their kids

4. Comprehensive Child Development Act (1971) • ON the advice of WH aide Pat Buchanan, Nixon vetoes the bill • Proposed a federally-funded network of child care centers, universally available but not mandatory, with families’ tuition subsidized depending on their income • “Sovietization of American children” • Bipartisan support, budgeted at $10B per year to start (current dollars) • Passed by the Senate 63-17 • Reaction to the growing feminist movement for equal rights • Women are gaining more access to the labor force, but without quality, reliable child care, motherhood is often kicking women back out of the workforce • Message has persisted on the right– “The government should not be raising America’s children” • GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE CASE OF A MARKET FAILURE

5. Lessons Learned • Recurring challenges to providing quality early care and education in the US • Three consistent ideas run through these stories: • EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS FROM ECE • LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION BENEFITS FROM ECE • WITHOUT THOUGHTFUL GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION, THE MARKET FOR ECE CANNOT PROPERLY FUNCTION

6. Current state of access to ECE • There is a need for solutions – for families, children, and the workforce • What policy areas should we focus on to address this issue? • Funding • Quality • Workforce • Affordability and accessibility • Today I will focus on one component of accessibility – supply

7. Child Care Desert An area with children under the age of 5, but either no child care programs, or insufficient supply to meet demand Care Deserts

8. Half of families in the U.S. live in child care deserts • Rural communities hit hardest • 58% live in child care deserts • Even with family child care included, rural communities still undersupplied • Latino communities more likely to lack access to child care • 57% live in deserts, compared to 45% for African Americans and 49% for white families.

9. We also find significant effects on maternal labor force participation • Female labor participation in the US nearly doubled in the years between 1960 and 2000 • But since 2000, fewer women have been able to join and stay in the workforce, while other countries have surpassed the US • Our study finds that child care deserts are associated with much lower rates of maternal employment

10. A Path Forward • Wouldn’t put much money on the Trump Administration proposing any serious policy fixes • Notable that Trump campaign latched onto the issue, even if their plan was terrible • THE NEXT BIG PROGRESSIVE POLICY ISSUE • Millennials outnumber Baby Boomers (75.4 million) • Entered labor market during or just after Great Recession • Much more diverse population, raising young kids who have no racial majority • That leaves it up to the progressive states to lead the way forward

11. Child Care for Working Families Act (2017) • Introduced by Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Bobby Scott. More than 70 cosponsors in the House and 30 cosponsors in the Senate • Universal entitlement subsidizing child care so that not family below 150% of SMI would spend more than 7 percent of their income • Invests in the ECE workforce, raising wages

12. What Can California Do? • Include child care in state infrastructure packages • Provide “The California Model” in absence of federal action • Invest in the early childhood workforce • Standards for teacher preparation programs • Compensation supports • Professional development systems and workforce registries • Increase funding for early childhood programs • Incentivize providers to accept child care subsidy • Acknowledge inequalities by racial and ethnic origin

13. Questions? Rasheed A. Malik Policy Analyst Early Childhood Policy Center for American Progress rmalik@americanprogress.org @ramskull