Tackling The Child Care Crisis in NYC

Gaps in infant and toddler care directly affect parents’ ability to work, deepening economic inequities and disproportionately impacting women, particularly women of color (New Yorkers United for Child Care, 2025). Publicly funded childcare is essential for children from birth to age five, the age when parents most need reliable care to participate in the workforce.

The current system is broken. Funding is fragmented across city, state, and federal sources, and Pre-K funding has not kept pace with inflation. Outside New York City, 36% of four-year-olds and 96% of three-year-olds do not have access to free preschool. In NYC, 3-K and Pre-K programs exist, but access is uneven. Early educators are underpaid, family child care providers face barriers, and children with disabilities often experience delays in services.

Parents, usually mothers, are often forced to reduce work hours or leave their jobs to care for children under three, the most expensive and least supported ages. Full-time care for a two-year-old costs about $23,400 per year, more than CUNY tuition; and a household would need to earn roughly $334,000 annually to afford it. Guaranteeing free, full-day care from age two would give families financial stability, allowing parents to stay in the workforce (2-Care For All, 2025).

In 2022, New York City lost an estimated $23 billion in economic activity because parents reduced work hours or left the workforce due to childcare challenges (2-Care For All, 2025). Families with children under six are twice as likely to leave the city, which weakens long-term economic stability. Investing in universal public childcare may require upfront costs, but it largely pays for itself over time. By helping more parents, especially women, stay in the workforce, it creates more tax revenue, strengthens the economy, and reduces the need for public assistance.

Spending $1.3 billion per year to expand childcare to two-year-olds costs far less than leaving the current system in place. This investment would give families financial stability and support providers who operate on thin margins. A November 2025 survey of over 450 family child care providers, published in the Center for New York City Affairs report Dignified Pay for Quality Care, highlights the strain on home-based providers, most of whom are immigrant women and women of color.

The challenge affects both families and providers. Supporting family child care addresses gender and racial equity issues because child care is directly tied to women’s economic security. This New Yorkers United for Child Care five-year roadmap outlines potential revenue strategies to expand childcare access statewide.

This is part one of a two-part series on childcare. Stay tuned for part two.