Child care and early education policies are shaped by a history of systemic and structural racism. This has created major racial disparities in children’s access to quality child care that meets their cultural and linguistic needs and enables their parents to work. Early care and education workers are overwhelmingly in low-quality jobs with inadequate compensation. And workers of color are often relegated to the lowest-paid positions.

Equity Starts Early: Addressing Racial Inequities in Child Care and Early Education Policy explores these critical racial equity issues in major early childhood programs, policies, and systems, including CCDBG, Head Start, and state pre-kindergarten programs. It provides demographic and historical context for creating racially equitable early childhood policies and analyzes policy issues related to access, quality, and the early childhood workforce. Finally, the report offers state and federal policy strategies that can begin to address inequities. The executive summary is available here. 

To learn more, read this report by Christine Johnson-Staub.

Cover photo: Shutterstock, Olga Enger