Source: The Dispatch
by Katharine B Stevens & Jenet Erickson
“‘[F]ree’ child care is one of the rare proposals to attract support across the political spectrum — from progressives concerned about affordability and gender equity to conservatives hoping to boost family formation and the labor force. It looks like a simple, popular solution to several hard problems at once. But political appeal is not the same as sound policy for young children. This sweeping plan to shift the care of America’s young children from their families to paid providers is wrong for children, not what most parents want, and undervalues the family’s irreplaceable role in early development.” (01/15/26)