Every day in New York, parents make impossible choices. Do they stay home with their child and lose income or their job? Do they patch together care that’s expensive, unreliable or far from home? Or do they leave a workforce they want to be part of because child care simply isn’t available?
This isn’t a personal failure. It’s a policy failure.
Child care is essential infrastructure, just as vital to our economy as roads, transit, and schools. Yet New York has treated it like a private luxury instead of a public good. The result is a system that is unaffordable for families, unstable for providers, and unjust for the overwhelmingly female, immigrant and Black and Brown workforce that cares for our youngest New Yorkers.
The reason child care is so unaffordable today is simple: we’ve forced families to shoulder a cost that should be shared by all of us. In New York, full-time infant care can cost more than public college tuition, often exceeding $20,000 a year, an impossible burden for working families. Providers are trapped, too: programs rely almost entirely on parent fees, yet still cannot pay workers a living wage or cover rent and insurance. This broken market hits women hardest, especially Black, Latina, immigrant and single mothers, who are more likely to leave the
workforce or cut back hours because care is unavailable.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Universal child care flips this equation. Studies consistently show that public investment pays for itself through increased workforce participation, higher tax revenue and reduced reliance on social services. The cost estimated in the low tens of billions statewide is real, but so is the price of doing nothing. By closing corporate tax loopholes and asking the wealthiest New Yorkers to contribute a small fraction more, we can fund child care the same way we fund schools: collectively, fairly and for the long term.
As a state legislator, a mom and a community organizer, I know that universal child care is one of the most powerful investments New York can make. When families have access to free, high-quality care, parents can work, children thrive, small businesses grow and entire communities are stronger. That’s why I’m calling for a statewide commitment to universal child care for every child from birth to age four.
First, New York must guarantee access. No family should be on a years-long waitlist or forced out of the workforce because they can’t find a seat. A Right to Child Care would make early care and education a public entitlement, just like K–12 education is: available to every family,
regardless of income, immigration status, disability or zip code.
Second, we must finally pay child care workers what they deserve. Many earn poverty wages with no benefits, despite doing some of the most important work in our society. Pay parity with public school teachers, robust benefits, a living wage floor and real career pathways aren’t just
moral imperatives; they’re the only way to stabilize and grow the system.
Third, child care must reflect the reality of working families’ lives. A system built only for 9-to-5 schedules leaves out nurses, delivery workers, hospitality staff and countless others. New York must invest in care during nights, weekends and non-traditional hours, and support family child care homes and community-based programs that families already trust.
Fourth, we need to build the infrastructure of care. That means funding new and expanded child care facilities in schools, libraries, public housing and neighborhoods that have been ignored for too long. Care should be built into every public investment we make.
Finally, universal child care requires stable, progressive funding. By closing outdated corporate tax loopholes and asking the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay their fair share, we can create a permanent Child Care Trust Fund that protects this system from political swings and budget
cuts.
This is about values. Do we believe caregiving matters? Do we believe women’s work matters? Do we believe every child deserves a strong start? If the answer is yes, then the path forward is clear.
Universal child care isn’t radical. It’s responsible. And it’s time New York led the nation by making care a guarantee, not a gamble. Together, we can build a New York that truly cares for our children, our families and our future.
Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas is a progressive leader, community organizer and working mother running for New York State Senate to represent the Queens neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst and Corona. She has spent her career fighting for working families, immigrant communities and health care justice.
