The coronavirus pandemic continues to have an enormous impact on every aspect of society—including by deepening the child care crisis, which is affecting Millennials and Gen Zers. While other industries have received large bailouts to ensure that they survive the pandemic, child care has yet to see the major investments needed to stabilize the industry during the crisis and faces a potentially permanent loss of nearly half its pre-COVID-19 capacity. With child care programs and providers facing closures and reduced capacity as Americans head to the polls, child care is very much on the minds of young voters.
Survey results from the Center for American Progress and public opinion polling firm GBAO show that voters between the ages of 18 and 34 demonstrate highest support for a greater government role in helping families get reliable, affordable child care so that people can work; and survey results from Next100 and GenForward show that access to affordable high-quality child care is a top priority for Millennials and Gen Zers, alongside student loan debt and housing affordability.
Please join the Center for American Progress and Next100, in collaboration with Generation Progress, for an online event discussing the importance of child care as a voting issue for Millennials and Gen Zers. During the event, panelists will share how child care cuts across many areas of equity that are important to young voters—such as racial, gender, and disability justice. They will share their vision for child care during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, as well as ideas about how Millennials and Gen Zers can get involved with the movement for child care.
Panelists:
Wendy Calix, Child Care Provider
Bryce Covert, Journalist
Helena Girouard, Parent and Child Care Advocate
Jasmine Henderson, Child Care Organizer, Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Moderators:
Levi Bohanan, Policy Entrepreneur for Education and Early Years, Next100
Darya Nicol, Advocacy Associate for Early Childhood Policy, Center for American Progress