New York's child care sector grapples with ongoing challenges post-pandemic, highlighted in a report by Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Child care prices surged nearly 18% from 2018 to 2023, reaching an annual average of $14,621 per child, second only to Massachusetts. Factors contributing to these exorbitant costs include a reduction in the number of providers and low wages dissuading new workers from entering the field. Senator Jabari Brisport advocates for the Universal Child Care Act to address these issues through funding, wage increases, and the establishment of a dedicated oversight department.
The pandemic's disruption of the state's child care industry is far from over. Prices in New York are among the highest in the nation, while child care workers earn wages well below the state's median.
New York's got about 2,000 fewer child care providers now than we did in 2015, and the providers we do still have are struggling to retain staff and make ends meet.
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