Universal Child Care For NYC Families Moves Closer To Reality

NEW YORK CITY — New York City families' frustrating, often fruitless scramble for child care soon could be at an end.

A five-bill package laying the groundwork for universal child care in the city passed the City Council Wednesday.

With the vote, New York became the first major city in the nation to embrace policies that nurture affordable child care and effectively guarantee access to it, said Council Member Julie Menin, who shepherded the Universal Childcare Act.

"New York City is setting a precedent across the nation that Universal Childcare can be realized," Menin said in a statement.

Child care is an expensive proposition for New York City families, if they can find it at all, data shows.

The cost of child care for infants averages $21,000 a year and $16,000 for toddlers in the city, according to a Comptroller's report. And 36 percent of city parents struggled to find child care, another study found.

Roughly 375,000 people, largely women, are pushed out of the workforce because of child care costs, Menin said.

The bills set up a three-year child care grant program for providers at risk of closure, creates a comprehensive child care directory, sets up tax breaks for property owners who create or expand child care centers and establishes an advisory board to craft policies that will move the city toward universal care in five years.

The bills could be joined by other legislation. Council Member Crystal Hudson said the city needs to help raise wages and training for often-underpaid child care workers.

"This package is just the start," she said.