The Steep Cost of ‘Free’ Child Care
January 15, 2026
growing coalition of advocates, business leaders, and foundations is promoting a universal system of government-funded, full-time child care for all children starting weeks after birth. This is “essential economic infrastructure,” they argue, crucial to a thriving economy because it enables the “sidelined parents” of young children—primarily mothers—to “participate fully in the labor force.”
The idea has genuine appeal. Evidence does show that greater access to affordable child care can boost women’s workforce participation, increasing labor productivity, business revenue, and household income. And “free” child care is one of the rare proposals to attract support across the political spectrum—from progressives concerned about affordability and gender equity to conservatives hoping to boost family formation and the labor force. It looks like a simple, popular solution to several hard problems at once.
