[ [link removed] ]Francesca Hong for Governor[ [link removed] ]Francesca Hong for Governor



Jack,

Wisconsin is at the bottom of the class when it comes to childcare. 

A recent [ [link removed] ]report from the People’s Policy Project identified Wisconsin
as one of only six states that put in the absolute minimum required to
unlock federal childcare dollars. That's a choice the people running
Madison made, and working families pay for it:

* Childcare costs about  $15,000 a year, per child, for private care —
more than in-state tuition.
* Childcare workers earn $13.55 an hour — less than a dog walker.
* Parents, mostly moms, are forced out of the workforce because the math
doesn't work.

And it's bigger than Wisconsin. That same report ranks the United States
40th out of 41 wealthy countries on childcare — near dead last. Not
because we're broke. We have about as much money per child as the
countries at the very top. We just decided childcare is every family's
private problem to solve alone, while places like Denmark, Finland, and
Norway decided it's something a society does together — and built
childcare parents can actually afford. It's a choice. We've been making
the wrong one.

Our universal childcare policy would provide totally free childcare to
most Wisconsin families and would aggressively cap costs for wealthier
ones. It also provides a pay boost and additional support for childcare
centers and childcare workers, like tuition reimbursements, making it
easier and more sustainable to create the supply of childcare that
Wisconsin families need.

You don't have to look across an ocean to see it work, either. In New
York, the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, made universal childcare the center
of his campaign, and within months of taking office, the city started
rolling out free childcare for two-year-olds, with 2,000 free seats
opening this fall. A major American city is doing right now what we keep
being told Wisconsin can't. The question was never whether we can afford
to. It's whether we're willing to.

So here's how we pay for it: the same way we pay for Social Security and
unemployment — everyone pitches in a little through payroll, workers and
employers together, and everyone gets to use it. For a worker, that's
about $6 to $8 a week, with employers covering the larger share. $24 per
month versus $1,000 per month? Sounds like an easy choice to me. 

I'm running for governor to make that choice. Other places already proved
it works. Wisconsin can be next.

[ [link removed] ]If you believe raising a kid here shouldn't be a financial emergency,
chip in $15 today — a dollar for every thousand a Wisconsin family pays
per kid each year

Let's make better possible.



[ [link removed] ]Donate $5 ››



In solidarity, 

Fran







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