Hailey Gibbs is a senior policy analyst for Early Childhood Policy at American Progress. Her work focuses on the social and economic benefits of investing in early child care and education; promoting equity through child care access and infrastructure; and best practices in supporting children’s learning for the 21st century. She has written for Mediumand The Conversation and has contributed to the Brookings Institution’sEducation Plus Development blog.She has also published in a variety of academic journals, including the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Cognitive Development,and Child Development.
Prior to joining American Progress, Gibbs worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Temple University Infant and Child Lab, under the supervision of Dr. Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, on projects focused on expanding equity-based, culturally relevant learning opportunities in public spaces through the Playful Learning Landscapes initiative. Gibbs earned a degree in psychology from Salisbury University and a Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland.
Disparities in Housing, Health Care, Child Care, and Economic Security Affect Babies for Life
Social determinants of health, such as access to secure housing, family employment and economic stability, education, and child care, must be the focus of federal policies to support infant and toddler health.
Congress Should Guarantee Medicaid Continuous Coverage for Pregnant Women and Children
Congress has a narrow window to help preserve insurance coverage and improve both postpartum care and children’s health outcomes when the public health emergency ends.
Child care often is treated like a private family issue, but lack of access has cascading negative impacts on child care providers, small-business owners, and broader communities.
With additional funding, an existing federal subsidy program could forestall closures and supply losses in the child care sector until policymakers secure meaningful investments.
A Strong Start in Life: How Public Health Policies Affect the Well-Being of Pregnancies and Families
Understanding how the key social determinants of health—including housing, employment, and education—affect perinatal health is critical to ensuring that federal policies support healthy babies and families.
3 Ways Federal Investments Can Address Child Care Deserts in America
Comprehensive, sustained investments in child care can create historic opportunities to transform the system by building supply, expanding affordability, and supporting the workforce.
Congress must act now to resolve the nation’s infant and specialty formula crisis by addressing supplies, cost, and accessibility and then take steps to prevent future shortages.
4 Reasons the U.S. Economy Needs Comprehensive Child Care
Building the infrastructure for a robust child care system would have wide positive reverberations for the nation’s businesses and broader economic recovery and growth.
5 Strategies for Equitable Implementation of Public Investments in Child Care
States received an influx of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to stabilize their child care industries. Key policy strategies that center equity ensure that these funds reach the people who need them most.
The American Rescue Plan Shored Up Child Care, But a Long-Term Solution Is Necessary
The American Rescue Plan provided much-needed funding to protect the child care sector from collapse, but long-term investments are critical to achieve lasting infrastructural change.
