Major public funding needed for child care - Commonwealth Magazine (Opinion)
By Marybeth Mattingly, Sarah Savage, and Marija Bingulac
MONTHS BEFORE the first documented case of coronavirus became public, an owner of a Connecticut-based child care center suggested a way to demonstrate child care’s critical role in the economy.
“Just shut down child care for a day,” she said. “The economy will come to a screeching halt.”
Her words have proven prophetic.
The essential role of child care in our economy has been bracingly clear from the start of the pandemic. As we approach recovery and reopening, it’s apparent that leaving child care to a mostly private market has placed us in a vulnerable position. In order to resume pre-COVID-19 levels of economic activity, we need a fully functioning, robust child care system that is resilient in a crisis, much like our publicly funded K-12 education system. Instead, we’re facing potentially permanent closures across the sector, even as we erect new and higher barriers to high-quality child care. We don’t have to take this path.