My husband and I are wrestling with a tension that is all-too-familiar for many New Yorkers. We’re thrilled about the prospect of bringing a baby into our lives but are scared to death about how much it costs to raise a child in the five boroughs. As much as we want to grow our family, can we actually afford this?
Right now, starting a family in New York City just isn’t financially feasible for most people who want to. That’s why so many of my constituents are organizing in support of Universal 2-Care, a program that would provide free, full-day, accessible child care for all 2-year-olds. As the Council Member for the 39th District in Brooklyn, I am proud to champion Universal 2-Care, both personally and as a matter of public policy.
A few weekends ago, I spoke with moms and dads at JJ Byrne Playground in Park Slope about their experiences with child care. While they kept one eye on their kids swinging on the monkey bars, parents shared their stories of sky-high costs and personal sacrifice. One mom of a 7-year-old told me that she went into debt to pay for child care when her son was 2. Another shared that at one point, she was spending nearly $60,000 annually on child care for her two young girls.
Parents regularly mentioned that the high costs of child care have limited their ability to have more children, caused them to put their careers on hold, and led them to seriously consider leaving NYC. That’s no surprise given that, on average, child care for just one kid consumes about 25% of a New York City family’s income, the second-largest expense only after rent.
Parents are being forced into impossible choices: drain their savings, take on debt, leave the workforce, or leave the city altogether. The financial strains impact more than just families. They’re also holding back our economy. Parents with children under 6 are two times more likely to leave New York for neighboring states, costing our economy billions of dollars. In 2022, in NYC alone, $23 billion in economic activity was lost due to the child care crisis. We are losing young families and would-be families to other states, and we cannot wait for the state or federal government to act.
New York City can’t afford to continue down this path. Instead of addressing this issue, Mayor Adams has made it worse. His nine-figure cuts to 3-K in the last two budgets have threatened the planned expansion of seats and broken the promise of a truly universal program.
His administration’s chronic late payments to city-contracted child care providers have caused many sites to shutter, including Park Slope North Early Childhood Center in my district. While he claimed that every student who applied received a 3-K seat, some of these seats are far from homes or workplaces and have unworkable hours for parents, making them impractical to accept. A seat in name only is not a true solution.
Despite these challenges, through 3-K and Pre-K for all, we’ve already demonstrated how publicly funded child care is possible. Now, it’s time to broaden access even further with Universal 2-Care. Expanding early childhood education to 2-year-olds would ensure that parents, especially mothers, can remain in the workforce while their children receive the care and education they deserve right here in New York City.
The private sector alone cannot solve this crisis. If we continue down this path, child care will become a luxury product accessible only to the fortunate few. It’s no secret that private child care facilities that charge premium prices are thriving in wealthy neighborhoods while city-funded providers in working-class communities are shutting down in droves.
When the market fails to deliver a crucial service, the economy suffers. The government must step in to support both parents and child care providers. Universal 2-Care would ease this burden on working parents by treating child care as a public investment. The outflow of young families from NYC is devastating our economy.
With Universal 2-Care, we have the opportunity to increase capacity in child care deserts, assist working-class families who are at a breaking point in staying in the city they love, and boost billions into our local economy. My husband and I were both raised here and are better off for it. We want to be able to raise our kids in the city that has given us so much.
For us and so many other families, we need to pass Universal 2-Care now.
Hanif is a City Council Member from the 39th District in Brooklyn.