Early Education Helps Children and Families Thrive
Connecticut legislators recently took some early steps toward helping young children by putting $18.8 million more into Care4Kids, a program that offers child care subsidies for low-income families. Your elected officials need to know that you appreciate this step, and that parents and children need more when the legislature comes back for its next session in 2025.
Some other points you can add to your message:
- There aren't enough early education spots for young children in Connecticut, leading to long waitlists and fewer options for parents. 44% of people in Connecticut live in a child care desert.
- The average cost of child care in Connecticut is nearly $13,000 per child per year.
- Children who enroll in high-quality early childhood education have higher cognitive benefits that can help in later school years.
- Children who enroll in high-quality early childhood education have higher social-emotional development.
- Early childhood education is especially helpful in closing gaps for low-income and dual-language children.
- If Connecticut fully funds early childhood education, research estimates that 15,000 new working moms will be able to join the workforce and that 7,000 working parents will be able to stay employed because of access to child care.
This campaign is an initiative by the Connecticut Project Action Fund, a non-partisan 501(c)4 non-profit organization that mobilizes people and partners to advocate for solutions that better the lives of Connecticut's vulnerable and financially distressed families. Signing this petition also adds your name to an open letter from parents, advocates, and organizations calling for legislative action.
Yes! I want to tell my legislators to fund Early Childhood Education!