A free childcare proposal for New York City is part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s state budget proposal, and it could be a model to help parents across the state.
Hochul worked with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to have the state fund free care for 2-year-olds. The program called 2-care would ultimately be expanded to achieve Mamdani's goal of universal care for all families in the city.
Andrew Perry is the Director of Fiscal Research at the Fiscal Policy Institute. He calls the 2-Care program historic, given that childcare can top 22-thousand dollars-a-year.
“We see policymakers, politicians of all political stripes really focus on the affordability crisis. And that can mean a lot of things. And I think childcare in this state is really one of the big two costs that sort of determine whether you can feel like you can afford to live comfortably in this state. I think alongside housing, it's many families who have young children's largest costs,” Perry told WAER News.
The FPI’s research found more impacts of high childcare costs. Families with young children for example are 40-percent more likely to move out-of-state than those who don’t. The cost of childcare also takes people out of the labor force who choose to stay home with children instead. That takes workers and money out of the economy.
Perry notes statewide Pre-Kindergarten was started in New York City, "and I think you could see a similar pattern playing out for Two-Care, for two-year-olds, right, is that the city goes first and establishes sort of the proof of concept that this is work, that this works, that this is a good thing to be investing in." He could see it alter being expanded to cover the rest of the state.
Perry says the challenges for the program start with the naature of teh expanded childcare slots. "Are we rolling out good quality seats for families so that it's actually universal? And then on the fiscal side, we really have to make sure that we're funding this thing adequately and sustainably." He added businesses should also come on board to help sustain the program, as a way to retain and support employees.
PROPOSED FUNDING PRE-K & CHILDCARE
(SOURCE: Fiscal Policy institute)
- No new taxes or other revenue sources; new investments come from “existing state revenues.”
- $470 million for Statewide Universal Pre-Kindergarten
- New York State currently provides pre-kindergarten for three-quarters of its four-year-olds. This plan would add $470 million to expand pre-kindergarten to the remaining districts that do not yet provide the program.
- $500 million for “2-Care” in New York City over two years
- A phase in of universal daycare for two-year-olds in New York City: $75 million in the first year and $425 million in the second year.
- $1.2 billion for the Child Care Assistance Program
- New York State’s existing voucher program subsidizing childcare for low- and moderate-income families is inadequately funded, forcing districts, including New York City, to put eligible families on waitlists. Governor Hochul committed to adding $1.2 billion in funding to shore up the program.
State budget negotiations take place through March, which will ultimately determine if the pilot 2-Care program gets funded.
