Smarter Reform: Moving beyond Single-Program Solutions to an Early Care and Education System in the United States

Abstract

Proposals to improve early care and education (ECE) in the United States are often based on narrow conceptions of the value, benefits, and appropriate structure of services. The result is an increasing number of initiatives that focus only on a single aspect of the system (e.g., preschool for poor children) and assume this limited intervention can produce large results. This paper argues that to realize ECE’s potential to benefit children, families, and the US economy, the focus of reform proposals must broaden. The paper highlights the need for public investment that recognizes our children’s full worth and that reflects the value of family caregiving by supporting unpaid as well as market care. The paper presents an alternative proposal that takes into account the complexity and special nature of ECE markets and that calls for a range of investment strategies and a commitment to a level of institutional support commensurate with a high-quality ECE system.