In the United States, childcare has been extremely expensive, straining and draining the lives of many families across the nation. These high costs have led to a national crisis, but here comes change.
According to the TOOTRIS News and Education Center, the average annual cost of infant and/or childcare in New York has been around $15,000-20,000. On the other hand, the average annual income for most families in New York is around $80,000-100,000. This is a huge crisis, as around 20 percent of people’s gross income—money made before any tax deductions—is being used on childcare. These high costs can put a severe strain on a family’s ability to save for emergencies, education, and more.
For years, no politician has been able to make any notable changes, many claiming that “universal childcare” was impossible, until now. Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York have created change. Despite their differences—such as their views on taxation, they have proposed giving New York City residents access to free child care for children as young as 2 years old.
According to CBS 6, on January 8th, “Governor Hochul announced a new investment aimed at delivering universal, affordable child care for children under five across New York State, including a partnership with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to launch free child care for two-year-olds in New York City,” Additionally, Truthout states that “politicians are also teaming up to expand the city’s program to provide free child care and education for 3-year-olds, known as 3K.” This means that the program will not only benefit children under 2 years old, but it will also impact children 3 years of age and up. To launch the program, the state will rely on its own funding for the first two years. In all, the proposed expansion will cost around $1.7 billion, and will go to state legislation for approval. Hochul also bravely states that “the era of empty promises ends with the two of us, right here, right now.”
This announcement signals a shift in New York’s approach to child care, aiming to make services more accessible while easing the financial burden on working families statewide.. CBS6 states that the initiative will help make childcare affordable for nearly 100,000 children and parents. Under the plan, all children in the state of New York will have access to Pre-K within the next 2 years.
The proposal proved wrong to Mamdani’s naysayers during the campaign, who claimed his ideas were “unrealistic.” Despite the plan not being fully approved yet, it has already gone through multiple stages and will only need legislative approval by April 1st. Mamdani states, “to those who think that the promises of a campaign cannot survive once confronted with the realities of government, today is your answer.” In addition, the plan highly contrasts with the Trump administration, which is currently seeking to completely slash child-care access. Just this week, reports have been found that the administration has been freezing multiple billions of dollars in funds for childcare in states, including New York. According to Truthout, as of now, “New York’s Attorney General Letitia James is leading a lawsuit of the affected states, including New York, against the Trump administration for freezing funds.”
Though the plan is still going through the process of approval, all in all, New York’s Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani’s plans prove that big changes can be made with the actual help from the government.
