Dear New Yorkers,
As we start the new year, job growth has continued nationwide. That’s true in New York City as well, although local numbers are flatter and lag behind national ones in sectors other than health care and social assistance. The city’s tourism industry has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, with Broadway attendance and overall hotel occupancy rate reaching their highest levels since the onset of the pandemic.
For New York City’s working families, affordability challenges remain severe. After housing (which we explored in three spotlights last year), child care is one of the biggest burdens. In this month’s Spotlight, we examine child care in NYC: the economics, the supply of publicly funded options, and the potential economic benefits of free, universal child care.
From 2019 to 2024, the average cost of child care for infants and toddlers in family-based care grew a whopping 79% (to $18,200), and center-based care was up 43% (to $26,000) – while the growth in average hourly earnings was only 13%. The vast majority of low-income families eligible for subsidized child care for kids two and under don’t receive it. And even for families in PreK and 3K, most don’t receive a full day option, so parents are still stuck after 3 pm, or for the summer (when, alas, most parents still have to work).
So it’s no wonder that the population of children aged 0-3 in New York City declined by 19.3% between 2020 and 2023. Families with children are being crushed by the cost of child care, even as child care workers themselves have the lowest incomes of any care workers, just 45% of the NYC median income. Child care is not just a severe constraint for working families, but for the city’s economy as well.
Fortunately, more attention is being paid to this critical issue. Advocates like New Yorkers United for Child Care are pushing for free, universal child care in New York State. We find that universal provision of free or affordable, high-quality child care would not just provide relief to hundreds of thousands of working families struggling to make ends meet – it would also boost New York City’s labor supply, improve quality of life, likely lower outmigration, and put New York at the forefront of support for working families across the nation.
That’s worth watching the numbers.
