The best way to make the American Dream a reality for all New Yorkers is by making our city more affordable for working-class families. Childcare costs have skyrocketed across New York City, putting pressure on monthly bills and family budgets. Working families are struggling to afford these high costs, resulting in many leaving the five boroughs. Parents deserve better, and our administration is delivering for them.
Last week, we announced an additional $80 million investment, as part of our recently passed “Best Budget Ever,” to support working families and ensure that every child has access to early childhood education programs. Here’s how that money breaks down:
For too long, universal pre-K wasn’t fully universal, since it left out students with disabilities. But we are changing that. As part of our “Best Budget Ever,” we are investing another $70 million towards supporting pre-K special education students who require occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other related services.
We are also investing $10 million in a groundbreaking pilot program to provide free childcare for children aged two and under. If successful, this program could put New York City on the path to universal childcare for low-income families.
Affordable childcare means that families can stay in the city, and it means that parents can continue to work. We know that when mothers leave the workforce to care for a child, they forgo $145,000 in earnings throughout their lifetime on average. If parents are forced to leave the workforce, their families struggle, and our economy is weakened. The size of your paycheck or your bank account shouldn’t determine whether your child gets the childcare you and they need.
This issue is personal to me. My mom couldn’t afford childcare, even though she worked three jobs to put food on the table for her six kids. My sister raised me and my siblings because the city was not there to help us when we needed it. That’s why we made this budget one that will deliver for working-class families — one that would have helped my mom and my family when we were growing up.
Affordable childcare and early childhood education is more than just a babysitter, it’s essential for a strong society, a thriving and equitable economy, and the development of our kids. No child deserves to start their life a step behind.
That’s why we have made historic investments in early childhood education time and time again. We have dedicated almost $170 million more in funding for early childhood education permanent in our city budget, meaning critical programs like pre-K special education and the expansion of our citywide 3-K program will be supported forever. And we have driven down the cost of subsidized childcare by over 90 percent. Thanks to our efforts, a family earning $55,000 a year went from spending $55 a week on childcare in 2022 to just $4.80 a week today.
Our administration understands that in New York, it takes a city to raise a child. We are expanding childcare to younger children and ensuring that families have access to childcare across the five boroughs because we know that to make New York City the best place to raise a family we must make childcare more affordable and universal. That is exactly what we are doing — every day, everywhere, as we continue to deliver for New Yorkers.
