These cities raised taxes — for child care. Parents say the free day care ‘changed my life’
Associated PressNEW ORLEANS — Last summer, Derrika Richard felt stuck. But Richard’s life changed in the fall, when, thanks to a new city-funded program for low-income families called City Seats, she enrolled the three children at Clara’s Little Lambs, a child care center in the Westbank neighborhood of New Orleans. City Seats, she said, “changed my life.” ___ This series on how the child care crisis affects working parents — with a focus on solutions — is produced by the Education Reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, including The Hechinger Report, AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, Idaho Education News, The Post & Courier, and The Seattle Times. ___ Last year, New Orleans added more than 1,000 child care seats for low-income families after voters approved a historic property tax increase in 2022. Because Louisiana’s early childhood fund matches money raised locally for child care, the city gets an additional $21 million to help families find care.
History of this topic
How D.C. tackled a child care crunch through a tax hike on the rich
NPR
Here's where voters approved a tax hike to help pay for child care
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