Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Access to Child Care

This blogpost illustrates the challenges of accessing child care during the COVID-19 pandemic among different groups of parents -– essential workers, parents working from home and struggling to balance family and job responsibilities, and parents who may have income changes that affected their eligibility under federal Child Care Development Fund vouchers. The blogpost also identifies challenges facing child care providers as they implement new safety procedures and adjust to the shifting needs of their clients. The blogpost synthesizes earlier research findings of studies from the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency project and offers five strategies, drawn from innovative child care agencies, to address the need for increased access to child care in a pandemic work environment.