UMass researchers examining universal child care costs – State House News Service
By Katie Lannan
As state lawmakers continue weighing early education legislation, a team of researchers at University of Massachusetts Boston will work to model costs of universal child care.
The project aims to simulate the costs of one particular bill (H 605, S 362), which supporters have dubbed the Common Start bill and which proposes significant reforms to a care system that has drawn sharper attention during the pandemic’s upheaval.
The bill would establish a universal system of early education and child care from birth through age 5 in Massachusetts, through a five-year rollout of a program ultimately allowing families earning less than half the statewide median income to access early education and care for free, with families earning above that threshold paying up to 7 percent of total household income. It would also create a new direct-to-provider funding allocation.
Researchers envision providing policymakers with information including estimates of costs of care under the bill, increased income tax revenue from workers with reliable child care, and potential new family earnings from increased labor supply.