State Strategies to Strengthen Infant-Toddler Care as Public Pre-k Expands 

Expanding public pre-k for 3- and 4-year-olds can unintentionally reduce access to infant-toddler child care. This brief dives into what can cause this reduction and provides state strategies to protect and support infant-toddler care in this context. As policymakers consider new investments in pre-k, states can act to ensure that families have affordable access to a full continuum of high-quality early care and education (ECE). 

Within ECE programs serving children from birth to 5, preschool enrollment, with its higher child-teacher ratios, has often subsidized the higher cost of infant-toddler care. Without proper considerations, public pre-k expansion, particularly when concentrated in public schools, can put this fragile financial model at risk. This can reduce access to high-quality infant-toddler child care, which is already scarce and unaffordable for too many families. 

Because babies’ brains are built from birth, it is critical that policymakers expand and stabilize infant-toddler child care when investing in public pre-k. This brief lays out state policy recommendations, including: implementing pre-k through a mixed-delivery system, allocating a portion of pre-k investment and child care funds strategically to shore up infant-toddler care, and investing in family child care programs. 

Following the publication of the brief, the ZERO TO THREE team hosted a webinar to discuss how states can protect and expand infant-toddler care in the context of pre-k expansion taking the opportunity to ensure families have affordable access to a full continuum of high-quality care and education. Watch the webinar, here: