These state fact sheets provide data on access to affordable child care for families, compensation for child care providers, and economic benefits of increased public investment in early learning.
Three children play together at Little Flowers Early Childhood and Development Center in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in Baltimore on Monday, January 11, 2021. (Getty Images/Matt Roth)
The Center for American Progress produces annual state fact sheets that overview the current early childhood landscape and opportunities to expand access to quality child care and early learning for families across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Sustained public investment in early learning would create opportunities for states to build systems that support working families while compensating early educators for their essential work.
These state fact sheets provide data on access to affordable child care for families, compensation for child care providers, and economic benefits of increased public investment in early learning.
These fact sheets explore the status of early childhood programs in each state and highlight the need to invest in programs that support child development, allow parents to work, and strengthen state economies.
By preparing children for school and enabling parents to work, high-quality child care and preschool are a necessity for children, families, and the economy. These fact sheets explore the status of early learning programs in states and the need for state investment in these programs.
Because high-quality child care and preschool prepare children for school and enable parents to work, they are necessities for children, families, and the economy, and state and federal policymakers must work to improve the U.S. early learning landscape.
