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The New York Times
By Amelia Nierenberg
September 30, 2023
Kristen Calderon was making about $37,000 a year as an early childhood educator in New Haven, Conn. It was more than the state’s average salary for the job but given the high cost of housing, it was barely enough. “Every month, I had to decide on a rotating basis which bill I wasn’t going to pay,” she said. But recently, all that changed. In 2021, she moved into free housing provided by her employer, the Friends...

Fatherly
By Devan McGuinness
September 29, 2023
While parents have years to save up for their kid’s college tuition — by opening a 529 plan, for example — they have much less time to save for child care. That doesn’t mean that the cost of child care is any more affordable. In fact, according to a new analysis, the cost of child care is currently more expensive than in-state college tuition in 28 out of 50 states, and it’s only getting more expensive...

Greater Good Magazine
By Rebecca de Leeuw, Sophie H. Janicke
September 26, 2023
Most children love stories. Stories are entertaining and fun, but can they be more than just fun? Findings from a new study led by one of us (Rebecca de Leeuw) indicate that stories in movies can also be meaningful for children. This study interviewed children between 4 and 15 years old after they watched the Disney • Pixar film Inside Out. This film takes place predominantly in the head of an...

Insider
By Eliza Relman
September 26, 2023
Childcare costs are soaring, particularly in major US cities — and zoning regulations are making it worse. Costs aren't just prohibitive for parents, they're also sky-high for providers, who operate on tiny margins and struggle to pay their workers a living wage. The financial situation for providers is about to get worse as the nation nears the end of federal pandemic relief funding for childcare providers, which is predicted to disrupt care for 3 million children. The funding...

Mass Live
By John L. Micek
September 26, 2023
Tens of thousands of Massachusetts children could lose access to child care coverage by week’s end if Congress, which is already scrambling to avert a government shutdown, fails to take action, a loss that could send ripple effects across the economy as families try to find care. More than 56,000 children could lose care, and more than 1,800 child care centers could close, as pandemic-era funding expires by Jan. 30, according to an analysis by...

CBS Pittsburgh
By John Shumway
September 25, 2023
Every family with children and working parents know we've got a childcare problem in this country. Pandemic-era funding is coming to an end and thousands of child care facilities are closing -- leaving parents with quite the dilemma. KDKA's John Shumway has been looking into the issue. The Century Foundation estimates that when the federal childcare investment ends this week, up to 70,000 childcare centers could close with 3.2 million children losing care. Up to 200,000 of...

The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Nate File and Lynette Hazelton
September 23, 2023
The federal government kicked in nearly $40 billion in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to keep the nation’s fragile childcare system afloat during the pandemic. Now, that support is set to run out at the end of this month. To Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez, the director of the Children’s Playhouse early-childhood learning centers, the pandemic should have been a moment when the value of childcare was finally appreciated for...

KXAN Texas
By Sally Hernandez
September 22, 2023
Millions of kids, including 305,976 in Texas, are at risk of losing childcare by September 30 when the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act expires, according to an analysis by the Century Foundation. “Congress has to act quickly to resolve the immediate funding crisis for childcare,” said Jamie Bussel with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a non-profit that says it’s the Nation’s Largest Health Philanthropy. The Foundation is calling on Congress to extend the federal funds to help...

CBS News Colorado
By Shaun Boyd
September 21, 2023
State lawmakers grilled administrators of Colorado's Universal Pre-School program at a hearing at the State capitol. The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee called the hearing. It approved $135 million for the program on top of $190 million from nicotine taxes approved by voters. The state promised the money would cover up to 30 hours of free pre-school for all low-income kids but then backtracked at the 11th hour, leaving families scrambling. Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer demanded to know why...

MPR News
By Kyra Miles
September 20, 2023
The first three years of childrens’ lives are shaped by a wide range of social factors. The Zero to Three LEARN conference held at the Minneapolis Convention this week tackled a number of those factors, including racial disparities in postpartum depression to climate change. Over the last two days, thousands of early childhood professionals gathered to discuss how to best serve children and families. And this year’s big themes are focused on the impact COVID-19...

Time Magazine
By Nik Popli
September 15, 2023
The emergency childcare funding Congress allocated during the pandemic is set to expire at the end of the month, raising concerns for the millions of families and childcare providers who relied on it over the last two years. The funding, part of the American Rescue Plan Act that congressional Democrats passed in 2021, included $24 billion in childcare stabilization grants, offering a financial reprieve to providers grappling with the multifaceted challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic....

Boston Globe
By Nancy Shohet West
September 15, 2023
Parents might gauge their child’s progress in preschool by how many letters they recognize, which shapes they can draw, or how comfortably they play with peers. But when Corey Marcotte of Littleton looks back at daughter Evie’s first year of preschool at Good Pickin' Farm in Westford, success is all about the chickens....

Forbes
By Allison Robinson
September 14, 2023
For working parents, this September doesn’t just spell the start of the new school year — it also marks the end of childcare funding via the American Rescue Plan. Known as the “childcare cliff,” this act’s expiration means the withdrawal of $24 billion in federal funding for childcare. Without those funds, over 3 million American children may lose access to care. This is problematic for millions of families who depend on that care and the caregivers for...

Baltimore Fishbowl
By Sponsored Staff
September 11, 2023
Since 2016, the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University has run a fellowship program supporting Maryland’s early-career artists in filmmaking and technology-based media. These fellows represent the vibrancy and urgency of Baltimore-grown storytelling, leading the charge in the creative renaissance of the city, and contributing to economic renewal. The recent commitment of $3.1 million dollars by the Saul Zaentz Foundation, disbursed across the next three years, ensures funding for...

The New York Times
By Eliza Shapiro and Asmaa Elkeurti
September 11, 2023
Not long after Crystal Springs started her new job at a large insurance company in Midtown Manhattan earlier this year, she realized that a much bigger chunk of her paycheck than she expected was going directly to child care for her 5-year-old daughter. Ms. Springs had dreamed that the job, which allowed her and her husband to make about $200,000 a year combined, would help provide a comfortable middle-class life for...

The New York Times
By Camilo Ortiz and Lenore Skenazy
September 4, 2023
A colleague in suburban Kentucky let his 12-year-old daughter walk two houses down to her friend’s place. At the end of the play date, the other girl’s mom walked her home, just to be safe. Such excessive caution is hardly unusual — over the past several decades, children have become less and less independent. Instead of running outside to play after school or riding their bikes around “Stranger Things”-style, they’re more...

WDRB.com
By Katrina Nickell
September 1, 2023
Louisville, KY – Parents with preschoolers in Jefferson County Public Schools' Early Childhood Education program are still working to find child care. The program's first day was set for Aug. 23. But the day before, the district announced the start would be delayed for "at least" two weeks. But no new start date has been announced yet, as the district works to figure out logistical issues. JCPS initially postponed the program's start as it worked on fixes for...

CBS 21
By Maxine Rose
September 1, 2023
York County, PA – Back to school can be stressful. Just ask Tori Allison, a former early childhood education teacher. “The education field is always changing. We’re learning new things, like, years ago, we didn’t know how important social and emotional development was," said Tori Allison, who has a background in early childhood education. Struggling to build her life, while also achieving her career goals, Allison says she found herself stuck between a rock and a hard...

Wilmington Biz
By Jenny Callison
September 1, 2023
It’s not news that the demand for high-quality, affordable child care exceeds the supply. In July of this year, the White House released data showing that nearly 60% of children under age 6 in the United States spend time in nonparental care on a regular basis. The same report stated that, in 2019, almost 75% of center-based providers had more requests than capacity, and more than 75% of households that searched for care had a...

News Channel Nebraska Central
Michael Shively
September 1, 2023
A Nebraska nonprofit is set up at one of the biggest stages in the state to raise awareness for its cause. We Care for Kids is operating an informational booth and display inside the Nebraska Building at the Nebraska State Fair. The Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative is helping out with the campaign. Program manager Ilissa Talkington says one of its goals is to share the importance of early childhood education. “It’s a huge opportunity to really...