District Digest: Early Childhood Education in the Fifth District: The Challenges and the Opportunities

Sonya Ravindranath Waddell

Econ Focus, 2025, vol. 25, issue 1Q/2Q

Abstract: Quality, affordable early care and education (ECE) serves a dual purpose. First, quality child care enables parents, particularly mothers, to work outside the home — an option that may be important both to families and, in a tight labor market, to the economy as a whole. Second, research shows that early education and a high-quality environment contribute to a child's success in kindergarten, which is a predictor of future achievement in school and ultimately in the workforce. Still, most parents in the U.S. struggle to find quality ECE at an affordable price — a challenge that spans the Fifth District and, indeed, the nation.

Keywords: employment; childcare policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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