Governor Kathy Hochul is rolling out what she calls the biggest child-care expansion in New York history.
If you’ve ever tried to balance raising kids with paying the bills in New York, you know one universal truth: child care is brutally expensive.
New York Just Announced One of the Biggest Child Care Expansions in State History
AndreaObzerova
AndreaObzerova
That’s why Gov. Kathy Hochul is hoping to change that. She’s putting a billion behind her latest state-of-the-state proposal.
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Gov. Hochul rolled out what she’s calling the next major step toward universal child care, not just in New York City, but across the Empire State.
Free Child-Care For 2-Year-Olds
Greggory DiSalvo
Greggory DiSalvo
The first part of the plan involves free child care for two-year-olds in New York City. The free two-year-old childcare program would start next school year in high needs neighborhoods in New York City and then expand city-wide in the coming years.
But the plan is much bigger than New York City.
New York Wants Child-Care For All
Hochul says she and lawmakers are preparing to build a true cradle-to-kindergarten pipeline — from child care, to 3K and Pre-K, to kindergarten.
If passed, it would be available to every family, regardless of income.
Her State of the State plan includes a $1.7 billion funding increase, bringing total spending to $4.5 billion by 2027, to reach nearly 100,000 more children.
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Outside NYC, counties across New York, including in the Hudson Valley, will soon be able to apply for new pilot programs that promise full-day, year-round child care.
That includes subsidies for lower-income parents, expansions of Pre-K seats, and new centers where they’re needed most.
Hochul says these investments are designed to save families billions and finally put child care within reach for parents who have had to choose between careers and kids.
New York Wants Universal Childcare
The long-term goal is nothing short of universal access, including statewide universal Pre-K by 2028–29.
Hochul says no child in New York should start kindergarten already behind simply because their parents couldn’t afford care.
If Hochul gets everything she wants, New York will go from one of the most expensive child-care states in America to one of the first with universal access for infants through age five.
For many New York families, this could be life-changing.
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