Report on Realigning U.S. Child Care Advocacy with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: The Imperative for a New Child Care Narrative

The demand for affordable and accessible child care in the United States has intensified, with costs often exceeding those of college tuition. Current advocacy efforts, which primarily frame child care as an economic necessity for working parents, have failed to secure transformative federal policy. Researcher Elliot Haspel argues for a strategic reframing of the issue, moving beyond a “morally impoverished” economic case. This report analyzes this perspective through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), proposing a more robust framework for advocacy that presents universal child care as a public good essential for national well-being.

Limitations of the Current Economic Framework

The prevailing argument that child care is necessary for parents to work is valid but insufficient. This narrow focus fails to build the broad-based moral and political consensus required for substantial public investment. Its primary weaknesses include:

• It frames child care as a private commodity for individual benefit, rather than as essential public infrastructure.
• It lacks the moral resonance of established public goods like K-12 education, making it difficult to gain support from voters without young children.
• It overlooks the profound connections between child care and broader societal goals, thereby failing to align with a comprehensive vision for sustainable development.

A Sustainable Development Framework for Universal Child Care

Strengthening Families and Promoting Well-being (SDG 1, SDG 3)

A more compelling argument positions high-quality child care as a fundamental support for American families. By treating child care as a public good, society can directly advance several SDGs.

• SDG 1 (No Poverty): Affordable child care reduces a significant financial burden on families, freeing up resources and preventing households from falling into poverty.
• SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being): Accessible care reduces parental stress and supports family stability, contributing to mental and physical well-being for both children and adults. It allows families to form, grow, and parent in the manner they choose.

Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SDG 11)

Child care is essential social infrastructure with ripple effects that benefit all community members, regardless of whether they have children. This aligns directly with the goal of creating sustainable and inclusive communities.

• It ensures the reliability of the workforce for essential services, such as emergency response and healthcare, as workers are not forced to miss shifts due to care breakdowns.
• It is critical for the economic viability of towns, particularly in rural areas, by enabling them to retain and attract families with children.
• By supporting a stable local workforce and population, it contributes directly to the creation of Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11).

Advancing Gender Equality and Decent Work (SDG 5, SDG 8)

The lack of a public child care system disproportionately hinders women’s economic participation. Framing child care as a cornerstone of gender equality and economic growth connects the issue to core development objectives.

• SDG 5 (Gender Equality): Universal child care is one of the most effective tools for enabling women’s full and equal participation in the economy and public life.
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): A robust child care system is a prerequisite for a productive and stable national workforce. It is a key component of the economic infrastructure that allows all other sectors to function effectively.

Integrating Paid Leave as Foundational Early Childhood Support (SDG 3, SDG 4)

Advocacy for child care must be tightly integrated with paid family leave. Paid parental leave should be understood as a form of infant child care that is critical for achieving development goals.

• It directly supports SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by promoting infant and maternal health during the critical first months of life.
• It relieves pressure on the formal child care system, which struggles most with the high cost and complexity of infant care.
• It provides a crucial foundation for lifelong learning and development, contributing to the objectives of SDG 4 (Quality Education).

Global Context and Strategic Recommendations for U.S. Advocacy

Lessons from International Models

The United States lags significantly behind other developed nations in public funding for and access to child care. Countries that have successfully implemented robust systems have done so by combining arguments for gender equity, economic productivity, and the fundamental right of children to quality early education. These efforts demonstrate that large-scale reform is possible and is a key mechanism for achieving SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Recommended Path Forward

Given the current political climate, advocates should adopt a multi-pronged strategy focused on long-term narrative change and immediate state-level action.

1. Reframe the Narrative: Systematically shift the public discourse from a narrow economic argument to a broader, values-based framework centered on family well-being, community resilience, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
2. Focus on State-Level Progress: Capitalize on bipartisan momentum in states across the country that are increasing investments in early care and education, creating models for future federal action.
3. Integrate Paid Family Leave: Ensure that policy conversations and advocacy efforts always treat paid parental leave and child care as two parts of a single, comprehensive early childhood system.
4. Build a Broader Coalition: Use this new framework to engage a wider array of stakeholders—including business leaders, rural communities, and seniors—by demonstrating that universal child care is a collective good with universal benefits.

Analysis of the Article in Relation to Sustainable Development Goals

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  The article’s central theme is early childhood care and education. It discusses the need for a “robust federal child-care system” and references an “early childhood education initiative.” This directly aligns with ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, particularly in the foundational early years.

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  While the main argument presented by Haspel avoids the economic frame, the article acknowledges that arguments for gender equity have been successful in other countries that established robust child-care systems. Accessible child care is a critical enabler for women’s full and effective participation in the workforce, addressing a key barrier to gender equality.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The article explicitly mentions the popular economic argument that “child care is needed for parents to go to work, feed their families and contribute to the economy.” It provides an example of how a “child-care breakdown” can prevent an emergency worker from going to work, directly linking child care availability to sustained and inclusive economic productivity and full employment.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The article highlights the extreme cost of child care, noting it “can be more than college tuition or even a mortgage payment for American families.” This high cost creates a significant financial barrier, exacerbating inequality by limiting access for lower-income families and impacting their economic mobility and the developmental opportunities for their children.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  Haspel’s argument touches on community sustainability. He notes that in some rural towns, the lack of a child-care center means “families will move away,” and the towns are “literally not going to exist in 20 years.” This shows that accessible child care is essential infrastructure for making communities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 4.2: “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.”

  The entire article is a call to action for universal, accessible, and high-quality child care and early education, which is the exact subject of this target.

• Target 5.4: “Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies…”

  The call for the United States to “fund a robust federal child-care system” and the discussion of “paid family leave” are direct examples of providing public services and social protection policies to support caregiving responsibilities, which disproportionately fall on women.

• Target 8.5: “By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men…”

  The article’s acknowledgment of the argument that child care “helps parents work” and prevents workforce disruptions (like for ambulance services) directly connects the provision of child care to achieving full and productive employment for all, especially parents of young children.

• Target 10.2: “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of … economic or other status.”

  By framing child care as unaffordable for many American families, the article implies that a lack of public funding for child care is a barrier to the economic inclusion of families with lower incomes. Making it affordable and accessible would promote their inclusion.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for Target 4.2: The article implies the need to measure the affordability and accessibility of child care.

  It states, “The annual cost to put a child in day care can be more than college tuition or even a mortgage payment,” suggesting that a key indicator would be the proportion of household income spent on child care. The “cry for more… accessible child care” points to measuring the number of available, high-quality child care slots per capita for children aged 0-5.

• Indicator for Target 5.4: The article discusses policy solutions that can be measured.

  The call to “fund a robust federal child-care system” and the mention of states like Texas putting “$100 million into their child-care system” imply an indicator of public expenditure on early childhood education and care as a percentage of GDP. The argument for tethering paid family leave to child care suggests tracking the existence and duration of nationally mandated paid parental leave.

• Indicator for Target 8.5: The article links child care to the ability of parents to work.

  The statement that child care is needed for “parents to go to work” implies that progress could be measured by the labor force participation rate of parents with children under age 5, disaggregated by gender.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: latimes.com