Access to Quality Child Care Makes All The Difference
Child care allows parents to work. When it’s not available, it’s primarily women and women of color who are pushed out of the workforce, which endangers their ability to support their families and decreases the diversity of our business community.
Quality care is critical for children today, to ensure that they are safe, eating nutritious meals and snacks, and engaging in developmentally- appropriate activities while their parents work.
Access to child care from birth to age 5 affects the future of every child, because the engagement and stimulation during the first five years of life is what triggers and supports the brain growth that’s essential for all future health and learning.
Child care not only powers our economy, but determines whether we have a just society, where every child has a fair chance to reach their potential and every parent who wants to work, can. Unfortunately, we are not meeting this metric today. Did you know that 41% of all children in Westchester under the age of 6 are in families whose working parents do not earn enough to meet basic needs, including child care?
The Child Care Council works – effectively! – to increase access to child care every day. With the help of our funders and supporters, we:
- help parents find and pay for quality care
- help child care professionals provide better care
- advocate to make child care more affordable, and for child care professionals to earn a living wage
- educate and galvanize the public on this critical issue
This year for #GivingTuesday – November 30, 2021 – our goal is to raise $20,000 to support the Child Care Council’s efforts to make equitable access to child care a reality for every child and every working parent in Westchester.
Only together can we build a world where all children start kindergarten on par with their peers, and none spend their earliest days unsafe or uncared for. Only together can we live in a place where no working mother loses her job, or loses her sleep over impossible choices.
Any amount you can give helps. We thank you in advance for your support!