CCC has long fought for safe, high-quality, and accessible child care. With 80% of NYC families with young children unable to afford care, building the path to a universal system is essential.

Hear more from Raysa S. Rodriguez, CCC’s Executive Director, on child care access in NYC and how city and state investments can strengthen early childhood education.

Unaffordable for too many

The federal affordability standard recommends child care costs not exceed 7% of total household income. In NYC, a family would need to earn over $300,000 annually to meet that threshold for one child, far above the city’s median income of $76,000. Our own data shows the cost burden:

The current system does not support all eligible families

State funding has not kept pace with the growing demand for vouchers to help families pay for child care. At least 21 counties in New York have stopped enrolling eligible parents in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (child care voucher program) due to insufficient funding—3,000 families are on NYC’s waitlist alone.

While NYC does offer universal care for 3- and 4-year-olds, availability is not always aligned with community need. This May, roughly 15% of 3-K applicants, more than 6,000 children were not assigned to any programs their families listed on their applications and were instead placed in a different program by the city — often creating barriers to access.

Many families are unaware of child care options available to them and face confusing, decentralized systems that make it difficult to apply. Additionally, most 3-K and Pre-K programs run 8AM–2PM and during the school calendar, which leaves many full-time working parents without any care options during evenings and over the summer months.

Child care access is tied to the city’s economic strength

According to the NYC Comptroller’s Office, child care workers, predominantly women of color, have the lowest median income of any care workers in NYC—just $25,000 – making it difficult to retain staff and meet demand.

Working parents are also impacted. Robin Hood Foundation’s Early Childhood Poverty Tracker reported that about 29% of working mothers experienced job turnover because of limited access to child care while 49% faced at least one challenge in their workplace due to child care issues.

Universal child care would deliver important economic gains, as shown by projections from the NYC Comptroller’s Office:

Middle-income families with children under six made up over half of those who left NYC in 2023. Faced with rising housing and child care costs, many parents are forced to choose between work and care—undermining family stability and the economic well-being. In 2022 alone, NYC lost $23 billion in economic activity due to the child care crisis, and the impact continues.

Our advocacy for universal care

We outline a number of critical steps the City can take in our October 2024 report, “ including:

• Stand up a community rooted, consumer-centered approach to application and enrollment processes including facilitating more year-round seats that are responsive to family working hours
• Prioritize Early Care and Education (ECE) settings that are inclusive, including for children with developmental and behavioral needs and students in temporary housing
• Prioritize filling seats and utilizing budgeted capacity, including by providing contract flexibility for providers to meet changing community needs
• Support the ECE workforce by ensuring salary parity between NYPS and CBO providers and by ensuring bi-annual increases for licensed, home-based family care providers
• Improve contracting and invoicing processes to prevent payment delays that shut down needed centers and harm sustainability

Additionally, City leaders must ensure providers who lost federal Head Start funding receive sufficient resources to prevent disruptive closures and protect family access to Head Start services. While the City has pledged support through the current fiscal year, long-term investments are essential to sustain these vital services.

NYC’s Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Budget was driven by the voices of advocates, parents, and city leaders and make crucial restorations and investments in ECE, such as:

• $112 million restored and baselined for 3-K/Pre-K and preschool special education seats
• $55 million baselined for preschool special education seats and $70 million in FY26 for preschool special education evaluations and services
• $25 million one-year funding for Promise NYC, which serves low-income children without eligibility requirements
• $25 million baselined for extended-day seats, which offer year-round care and care for longer hours for EarlyLearn, 3-K, and Pre-K
• $5 million in one-year funding for ECE outreach
• $10 million in new funding for FY26 for an Infant and Toddler Child Care program to expand childcare access to families with children 0 – 2 years old in high-need neighborhoods

These investments are positive, but much more work is needed to achieve a truly child care universal system that meets the needs of all children and families. We will keep you informed of our continued advocacy ahead.