When we support our youngest children in having the opportunity to fulfill their potential, we create the best outcomes in health, education and economic well-being for everyone in North Carolina.
Access to high-quality child care is essential for children’s development and for the growth of a healthy, competitive workforce. Without child care, parents can’t work, and children miss out on important early educational experiences that help prepare them for success in kindergarten, reading at grade level, and high school graduation on time.
Parents in every industry need child care to be able to work, and businesses and employers have identified child care as a critical factor in our state’s workforce challenges. Every parent in North Carolina deserves the chance to choose safe and reliable early learning opportunities that will allow them to work and support their families while giving their children a strong start. But right now, as federal relief dollars come to an end, our child care system is at the edge of a funding cliff that will be catastrophic. Parents can’t afford to pay more, early educators can’t afford to make less, and our state’s economy can’t thrive without a stable child care system.