Labor Day celebrates contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. The holiday makes me think about the hard-working families with young children in Wisconsin and across the country struggling to make ends meet financially while ensuring that their young children have a good start. This...
Early Care and Education
Research has shown that the first five years play an enormous role in a child’s ongoing development and future success. Since most kids are in a child care or preschool setting while their parents are at work, it’s critical that we invest in a high-quality early education system that provides the experiences kids need for healthy development.
Wisconsin Child Care’s Economic Impact
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) has issued a report, Child Care in State Economies, in which “the economic role of the industry is examined using three distinct perspectives—the traditional labor force view of child care as a means for parents to work; the child care industry’s macroeconomic role in the U.S. economy; and...
New Research on How Reading to Young Children Affects Brain Development
A New York Times blog, Bedtime Stories for Young Brains, provides a fascinating discussion of how reading to young children affects their development. We know reading to children from the start is good for children, but the new research explains why. Dr, John Hutton, the lead author of a recent study, says, “I think that we’ve learned...
Working Parents Struggle With Child Care: Affordability, Quality, and Work Flexibility
A Washington Post business page article, The surprising number of parents scaling back at work to care for kids, examines parents’ struggle with child care and work. According to the article, “While it has long been clear that finding affordable, dependable child care is a daily challenge for parents of young children, the new poll...
Can Social Impact Bonds Save Early Childhood Education?
Eleanor Clift asks Can This Save Early Childhood Education? in an article in the Daily Beast discussing social impact bonds for funding early education programs. The article discusses innovative approaches in a white paper released on Capitol Hill recently. “The basic idea is private investors loan money to social service providers who...
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