Even though we live in an era of childcare centers almost everywhere and most of us work or have worked in at least one type of care setting, we don’t often think of the women who actually began this phenomenon in our country. Read along for some of the earliest efforts to care for young children prior to school and the people who both helped and hindered those efforts. You will see more than educators in this development which has included social workers, reformers and philanthropists through the decades.
The development of childcare reform in the United States began in the late 19th century when philanthropists like Josephine Jewell Dodge established the Model Day Nursery at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition and founded the National Federation of Day Nurseries (NFDN) in 1898. This was the predecessor to the NAEYC that we know today. However, reformers like Jane Addams advocated for mothers’ pensions to allow low-income mothers to stay home with their children rather than work, reinforcing traditional gender roles.
Josephine Jewell Dodge 1855-1928
The U.S. Children’s Bureau (CB), established in 1912, supported mothers’ pensions rather than childcare, limiting progress in public childcare funding. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) introduced Emergency Nursery Schools (ENS) to provide employment and early education but did not aim to solve childcare issues for working mothers. Enrollment in childcare centers dropped drastically during the Depression as financial donations decreased.
World War II shifted the focus when millions of women entered the workforce, necessitating child care services. Under the Lanham Act of 1941, Congress allocated funds for childcare but did not fully meet demand. The war’s end in 1945 led to funding cuts, forcing most centers to close despite continued maternal employment.
By the 1950s, childcare discussions shifted to tax deductions for childcare expenses. Advocacy efforts, like those by the Inter-City Committee for Day Care of Children (ICC), pushed for federal childcare support but met resistance. The 1960s saw limited progress with childcare linked to reducing welfare dependency through employment incentives inception of Head Start. Universal childcare was rejected when President Nixon vetoed the Comprehensive Child Development Act in 1971.
The Reagan administration in the 1980s reduced childcare funding for low-income families while increasing benefits for middle- and upper-income families through tax incentives. The 1990 Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and 1996 welfare reform introduced the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), pushing low-income families into employment without addressing the need for high-quality, affordable childcare.
Today, childcare in the U.S. remains stratified along class lines, with lower-income families facing accessibility and quality challenges, while other countries offer universal childcare and paid parental leave to support work-life balance. In addition, there are “childcare deserts” where appropriate care is not available, often in rural and inner city areas.
Working together to advocate and insist upon high quality opportunities for children and their families is an important part of the work of early childhood centers, staff and advocates. Staying abreast of news and political issues, speaking out in appropriate settings and seeking innovative and creative ways to expand the care we offer are all ways we can contribute to the cause of affordable quality care for all children and appropriate wages for those who work in this important field.
