If the COVID-19 revealed the gaping holes in the US’s public health safety net, the shut down of schools and childcare centers demonstrated how such institutions were fundamental in allowing workers to work. Juggling the demands of remote work or limited childcare options forced many parents and caregivers into impossible situations. The federal government provided some funds to expand on childcare, but for the most part, state and local governments did not step in to help parents and caregivers. There were no policies initiated to protect the jobs of parents and caregivers during school closures, childcare services for essential workers were highly limited, and the struggles of parents were largely dismissed or ignored.

But one positive outcome of this crisis was a widespread recognition that childcare, especially early childhood education, needed serious reform. A broader coalition has emerged to support more universal and accessible policies. For example, in 2021, the New York Times unfavorably compared the United States’ private childcare system with the heavy public investment of peer countries. A pediatric cochlear implant surgeon, Dr Dana Suskind, made a splash arguing for more government assistance for early childhood care. Joe Biden’s doomed Build Back Better (BBB) bill would have revolutionized childcare in America for most families over the long haul.

Yet BBB never passed, and parental grievances over their unmet needs led to surprise upset Republican gubernatorial victories, like Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, as Democrats failed to understand how parental alienation and marginalization remained a politically salient issue in the pandemic’s second year. Even “tough-on-crime” Eric Adams ran his first television ad for his New York City mayoral candidacy to include a commitment to universal childcare and other social policies.