Mae Smith is making it work, but it hasn’t been easy finding affordable — or at times, even realistic — child care in New York City.
After giving birth in 2022, Smith and her husband have tried multiple daycares in Brooklyn: A program through 4 p.m., forcing Smith, a city worker, to change her hours. Another site that, for $25,200 annually, would take their toddler just four days per week, relying on grandparents filled the gap.
As her son turns 3 in November, Smith was relieved to qualify this year for the city’s free 3-K program and had a provider in mind close to their Flatbush home. But when the young parents inquired about after-school to align with their work schedules, the cost — $1,500 per month — was a non-starter: “We couldn’t even rank it,” she said.
“We both have good salaries. We feel grateful for the salaries we’re at, but we’re still just barely keeping up,” Smith added. “All of the families we know, all of our friends who are parents have the same fears as us: We’re constantly fearing being priced out of the city.”
In the home stretch of a crowded mayoral election, where candidates are jockeying to prove their affordability bona fides, Smith is part of a legion of New Yorkers who say the high cost of child care is one of — or the top issue — driving them to the polls.
They cut across income levels and ideological differences, and they’re looking for new ideas to tackle a child care crisis so acute that some families are, begrudgingly, leaving the city. They’ve become so omnipresent as to earn a new nickname: the “child care voter.”
Their sway became clear after the June Democratic primary, with Zohran Mamdani’s victory widely attributed to his laser-focus on affordability issues, including child care. While Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, and later Mayor Adams, were talking about public safety and crime — a campaign focus that helped propel Adams to victory in 2021 — the Queens Assemblyman tapped into pocketbook issues that clearly resonated with voters.
On child care, he promised to work toward universal programs for all kids under 5, responding to the demands of organized parents, like Smith, who want to see 3-K and pre-K fully funded and expanded to younger children.
“It would just relieve so much stress and strain. It would mean we might be able to save for our future, which feels completely unattainable,” Smith said. “Instead of scraping to get by.”
Affordability concerns
It’s not hard to see why child care has become a galvanizing issue.
The federal government sets the affordability benchmark for child care at 7% of total household income. To meet that standard in New York City, a family with one child would need to earn at least $300,000 each year, according to the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York — well above the city’s median income of $76,000.
The average cost of a child care center has shot up by 43% since before the COVID-19 pandemic, while earnings have only increased by 13%, according to an analysis by the city’s comptroller, Brad Lander.
“Families are going to vote at the ballot box, but they’re also going to vote with their feet and continue to leave New York City,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United For Child Care. “Anyone elected would be smart politically to make this their top issue.”
Brooklyn mom Libi Baehr said she and her husband “go in circles every day” of whether or not they can afford to stay in the city long-term with their 2-year-old daughter, Ruth. In the pricey neighborhood of Clinton Hill, they’re paying almost $40,000 at the only daycare of the half-dozen they considered with availability.
“I would say we’re barely making it work,” said Baehr, who alongside her partner works in the nonprofit sector. “We’re taking on debt, we’re taking money out of savings every month. We’re certainly not going on vacation, or getting a nice, new rug for my daughter’s nursery. We can’t even dream about buying a home right now.”
Baehr and Smith, the Flatbush mom, joined New Yorkers United for Child Care and its campaign to demand the next mayor make child care free for all children ages 2 or older. It’s a push they say is popular across the ideological spectrum, with a recent poll showing 78% of voters support it, including 77% of independents.
“We’re also thinking about getting pregnant again, and the thought of looking down the barrel of another three years of exorbitant child care costs, it’s just really tough,” Baehr said. “It would just open the door for getting out of survival mode.”
Candidates tap the anger
After winning the primary, Mamdani, the front-runner in the general election, has continued to push his promise of free child care regardless of income, appearing at campaign events with national figures and union officials on the issue.
If elected, though, Mamdani will face intense scrutiny on his ability to actually deliver on the $6-billion promise and others, such as a rent freeze or free buses, at a time when the Trump administration is making cuts to the city’s early childhood and broader education system. Gov. Hochul has also already rejected the idea of raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents, one of the few specifics Mamdani has offered on how to pay for his agenda.
However, child care is also among the issues the Democratic Socialist is most aligned on with Hochul. Before endorsing Mamdani, the governor called for putting New York on a path to universal child care. Iin making her support for the Democratic nominee official, she praised his focus on affordability for city families.
After a bad bruising in the June primary, Cuomo, the next candidate behind Mamdani, has tried to re-introduce himself to voters as the driving force behind universal pre-K as governor. Running as an independent, he’s promised to fully fund the program for 3-year-old children and expand subsidies for the neediest New Yorkers.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, has recognized the cost of child care as part of his affordability platform, which focuses on housing. Polling in the back of the pack, Adams has backed off his most unpopular child care cuts and launched a citywide after-school expansion, and chose to run as an independent on a “Safe & Affordable” ballot line.
The issue figures to play heavily in the choices voters make come November.
After considering her options, Rukiya Hutchison, a mom of a 2-year-old in Canarsie, said she decided who to vote for based on who seemed “sincere” about their focus on child care, rather than politicians who “jump on any issue that will help him get elected.”
Hutchison loved her home-based daycare until the provider sold her property while going through a divorce. Now, she and her fiancé are paying $13,000 per year while he works and Hutchison, who just earned a certification in project management, applies for jobs.
What kind of position she can accept will depend on steady, reliable child care, which she hopes would be made possible by the city reimbursing daycare workers a living wage.
“It definitely left me and my fiancé scrambling,” Hutchison said of the experience, which she is trying not to repeat. “Affordability is definitely a high priority for me.”