• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

It’s Time for a Comprehensive Early Childhood System, Not Another Band-Aid

Christina Weiland and Taryn Morrissey by Christina Weiland and Taryn Morrissey
10/26/21
in Featured, Opinion
Mother accompanies her daughter that's going to school

Photo: pvproductions/Freepik

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made headlines last month when she said that child care is “a textbook case of a broken market.” That’s not news to parents. Too many families with young children pay too much for child care, can’t find high-quality care, or can’t find any child care at all.

Furthermore, early educators are chronically underpaid, fueling sky-high turnover rates and a critical staff shortage that threatens the nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis — and the future of millions of American kids.

Americans across the political spectrum consistently support increased spending on children under 5, yet early childhood may get shortchanged – again – as their representatives on Capitol Hill disagree on how much to invest in young children, parents, and the future.

As experts in 0-5 policy – and as mothers of young children – we worry that this historic opportunity to finally build a high-quality, equitable, national early care and education system is about to be lost.

Band-Aid Approach

In their eagerness to reduce costs, there is a danger that policymakers may opt for an approach that appears thrifty but is piecemeal and inadequate, once again offering families too little, too low-quality care for too few.

This band-aid approach has failed our children, families, and teachers for generations.

In 2018, more than half of Americans lived in child care deserts, where there was fewer than one licensed slot per three young children. In 2014, parents with children under age 5 spent an average of 10 percent of household income on child care – but most of the care they paid for was of mediocre or low quality, with those teaching the youngest and most vulnerable among us currently being paid around $12 per hour.

Our child care system doesn’t work for families’ post-pandemic lives. Only 14% of low-income children eligible for federal child care subsidies receive them. And the requirements that we place on families, including work requirements, are rigid & outdated. https://t.co/1l6vuicGSw

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 20, 2021

Parents simply can’t afford to shoulder the true cost of labor-intensive, high-quality child care alone, especially during the lowest-earning years of their careers.

Comprehensive 0-5 Policy

We need a comprehensive approach to 0-5 policy, with a national paid family leave program that ensures time at home to bond with newborns, provides time off for the inevitable bouts of illness that all young children have, and protects parents’ jobs while they are on leave.

Once parents return to work, a comprehensive approach means access to high-quality child care, no matter where they live, how much they earn, or when they work.

In the preschool years, all children should have the option of enrolling in a high-quality program that supports their learning needs and meets the demands of their parents’ work schedules, including quality care before and after school and care in the summer.

A comprehensive approach also means that early childhood educators will finally be paid the fair wage they deserve for their critical work.

Build Back Better

Each of these elements is reflected in the Build Back Better legislation.

Build Back Better would be a game changer for young kids, families, teachers, and employers. The bill’s price tag represents economic infrastructure investments in child care that would jointly allow parents to get back to work and educate America’s future workforce. Handwringing about the bill’s cost obscures the fact that these funds are a critical investment in the current economy and the future of our nation.

Fifty years ago, then-President Richard Nixon vetoed a bill that would have created a comprehensive child care system, a missed opportunity we have been paying for ever since, via staggering gaps in children’s skills by family income, family economic insecurity, and lower economic growth – especially now, with learning setbacks and millions of parents out of the labor force due to child care shortages.

Our peer nations have far surpassed us in critical early childhood investments and maternal employment rates. In the wake of COVID-19, we simply cannot afford to blow it again. Our parents, children, and teachers need our lawmakers to fund the high-quality, consistent, and comprehensive early care and education system that all American families deserve.


The elements described in this piece are part of the vision the authors outline in their book, Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality, which was published in 2017 and updated in 2021.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Christina Weiland and Taryn Morrissey

Christina Weiland and Taryn Morrissey

Christina Weiland is associate professor at the University of Michigan and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative. Taryn Morrissey is associate professor at the American University’s School of Public Affairs

Related Posts

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York
Opinion

George Santos for Speaker!

by Stephen J. Lyons
January 16, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives
National

Chaos as US House Adjourns Without Choosing Speaker

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines
Opinion

Eight Billion and Counting…

by Stephen J. Lyons
November 29, 2022
US President Donald Trump
Opinion

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

by Stephen J. Lyons
August 17, 2022
Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy
Featured

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

by Stephen J. Lyons
August 5, 2022
US President Donald Trump
Opinion

Owning the Words and the Libs

by Stephen J. Lyons
June 16, 2022
Next Post
Fatih Birol

IEA Chief Pleads for 'Real Global Action' on Climate

ransomware

US Calls Ransomware Summit -- Without Inviting Russia

Recommended

A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

February 1, 2023
Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in East Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

January 30, 2023
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post