Monique Ford teaches 2- and 3-year olds at the Friends Center for Children in New Haven, but has been in the work for decades.
Her ask at an early-morning rally held in the Elm City echoed that of many others that day: child care workers need better pay.
“Being able to financially support their own families, and their own needs,” Ford said when asked about the push to improve workers’ lives. “I feel like it's getting closer inch by inch.”
Child care workers, advocates, families and children gathered across Connecticut on Wednesday for a “Day Without Child Care” to draw continued attention to the state’s care crisis.
Low pay is a major reason why there aren’t enough early educators to meet demand in Connecticut. The cost of care is difficult for parents, too.
Nationwide, many families spend a big part of their paycheck on child care – and the younger the children are, the pricier the care is, Pew Research found.
As a local public school teacher, and parent to two kids ages 2 and 6, Alyson Kagel is grateful for the service Friends Center for Children provides. As a single parent, it’s vital.
“Without financial aid that Friends [Center] gives us,” Kagel said, “there’s no way I could do my job.”
A 2024 Connecticut United Way report shows 40% of Connecticut households still have a hard time affording child care. In addition, the cost of living expenses like housing, groceries and health care are on the rise – just as federal plans to cut to safety net programs like Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are expected to come down the pike from House Republicans.
“We're at a point as a state and as a country where we can't just continue to do business as usual,” Sean Scanlon, the state’s comptroller, said to the crowd.
Movements at the state level
There have been some strides to improve the child care industry in the state. Another United Way of Connecticut report, released last month, showed a 6% increase in Connecticut child care programs operating at legal capacity.
The report cited a few reasons, from the new, earlier kindergarten age cutoff taking effect, to regulation changes and funding for infant and toddler spots, and more Care 4 Kids subsidies given out, to offset child care costs.
But advocates and many lawmakers agree the state needs more to buoy the industry.
With just weeks left in the 2025 legislative session, Connecticut leaders are hammering out the final details of the state budget. House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) told reporters Tuesday lawmakers are working on how to merge the three child care bills that have come forward this year.
All are priority measures for the Democratic lawmakers:
- Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal to establish a “universal preschool endowment.” If passed, it would use $300 million in surplus funds and take a “systemic approach” to overhaul the state’s child care system as Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye explained. Ten percent of that would be used the first year to begin planning, with the biggest changes for families and workers in 2028.
- A House bill includes a faster investment for families, by funding the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund with $100 million this current fiscal year, and for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026.
- The Senate measure includes a broader set of provisions related to education, including a Universal Preschool Trust and proposes funding it with leftover money at the end of every fiscal year.
The legislative session must wrap up by the end of Wednesday, June 4.
