This blogpost illustrates food insecurity data and the impact of relief measures on food insecurity. The most recent annual U.S. Department of Agriculture report shows that some 13.5 million households with 33.8 million people were food insecure…

For much of 2022, the U.S. has enjoyed an unusually strong labor market. Unemployment is historically low, and job creation is well above the level needed to keep pace with population growth. By some measures, such as wage growth, the labor…

Access to high-quality, accessible, and affordable early care and education is essential to the economic wellbeing of families and child care providers, who are fundamental for robust and resilient state and national economies. This blogpost…

Supporting healthy development begins in early childhood. To support their children and optimize family well-being, parents need access to high-quality early care and education (ECE) services, as well as support for broader family needs, such as…

Parents who work outside the home have always faced challenges finding high-quality, affordable child care that meets their needs. But the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences for the child care industry and parents’ attachment to…

Partnerships between Early Head Start (EHS) programs and child care (CC) providers aim to increase access to high-quality, comprehensive services that meet the needs of infants and toddlers from families with low incomes. This brief uses data…

Both the early childhood and child welfare systems are investing in promising new ways to support families with young children, particularly as they strive to recover from COVID-19 challenges and to become more equitable. These investments are…

The American Rescue Plan temporarily increased the child tax credit (CTC) in 2021, including extending the credit to families who had not previously filed tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service automatically sent monthly payments of the CTC to…

Millions of families with children from birth to age 12 rely on home-based child care (HBCC)—child care and early education (CCEE) offered in a provider’s home or the child’s home. Much of the research literature and policy discussions about…

Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care is used by millions of families, whether it is a regular, paid arrangement, a grandmother who “just provides a few hours of care each week” for her grandchildren, or a well-known neighbor who “watches…