The problem isn\u2019t theoretical, it\u2019s real and urgent for the approximately 445,000 New York City families with children under five years old. Many of those families \u2013 80% in fact, can\u2019t afford child care in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s easy to see why. A 2024 study<\/a> found that a family of four needs an annual income of $318,406 to live comfortably in New York City, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a> the median household income in the city was just $79,713 in 2023. When you are coming up short by over $200,000 the idea of staying in the city becomes quickly untenable, especially when the cost of childcare accounts for so much of a family\u2019s monthly budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n For childcare to be considered affordable according to national guidelines it needs to account for no more than 7% of a family\u2019s budget. But with the average cost of daycare for infants and toddlers in the city clocking in between $18,000 and $26,000 a year, child care for one kid alone would eat up over 20% of the average family\u2019s income.\u00a0<\/p>\n This impossible math is part of the reason why the majority of the people leaving the city are middle and lower income families. All of these families leaving translates to 186,000 fewer children in the city compared to just five years ago. A city without children, without families, is a city without a future.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Without affordable, or ideally free, childcare, parents are left to make sacrifices that put the economy in peril: missing shifts, leaving children alone or in unsafe situations, cutting back hours, or dropping out of the workforce altogether.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve already started to see that happen, and the pinch is coming first for women\u2019s careers: Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows<\/a> that 212,000 women have left the workforce since January. This after women\u2019s employment reached a record high of 75% in 2023. In a society that still sees women bearing the lion\u2019s share of childcare and still earning 83 cents on every man\u2019s dollar, when something has to give, it\u2019s usually mom\u2019s job. When we lose women in the workforce, the entire economy loses out. Women\u2019s paid labor contributes an estimated $7.6 trillion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually, according to the Center for American Progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n So if all signs point to the need for universal childcare, what will it take to make it a reality?<\/p>\n Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani promises to make childcare free for kids 6 weeks to 5 years old by subsidizing family care, paying teachers a living wage, easing regulatory burden to open more child care centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Start up costs and regulations can be a huge barrier for childcare providers, says Gladys Jones<\/a>, founder of ECE on the Move, a New York City family childcare advocacy group. Startup costs typically range from $10,000\u2013$50,000, depending on necessary renovations, furnishings, licensing fees, insurance, and supplies. She says that family childcare providers have to navigate requirements from multiple agencies often with inconsistent guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones says she has heard from childcare providers who, even after navigating this complicated maze, still have their inspections delayed or have to make more costly changes to meet conflicting and confusing licensing and zoning mandates,\u00a0 which leaves them to deplete their savings, and delay openings leaving families without care options.<\/p>\n In other words, New York\u2019s bureaucracy is making it more difficult to offer childcare in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Child and family policy expert Elliot Haspel<\/a> says the remedy is to \u201cseparate out three types of regulations: those that we know help ensure basic health and safety, those that we know help ensure a floor of quality, and those that have meager evidence that they do either of those things.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Once providers open centers, they are often making well below a living wage. According to Jones, family childcare providers in the city earn\u00a0 between $14\u2013$28\/hour. \u201cTo support a liveable income in NYC, providers need compensation of $25\u2013$30\/hour,\u201d she says. This would require consistent public investment, she adds.<\/p>\n When families can\u2019t find childcare, they often lean on neighbors or family members to fill the gap. Haspel says there are two main ways to fund this type of support: make it much easier for family, friend or neighbor caregivers to register to be part of a child care subsidy system and make sure they are reimbursed at a good rate, or directly send money to families in order to compensate those types of caregivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n He says some states like Oklahoma and Colorado offer good models for registering and compensating these informal caregiving set ups. And there\u2019s other precedents, too. \u201cWe do this better in other care situations,\u201d Haspel says. \u201cThere are some good lessons to learn here from programs that pay relatives to care for people with long-term complex disabilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s precedent in other places in the U.S., too. New Mexico just announced it is\u00a0making child care free for all residents regardless of income starting in November. \u201cBy investing in universal child care, we are giving families financial relief, supporting our economy, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to grow and thrive,\u201d Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham<\/a> said in her announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n