Tuned In is off again next week; it’s been a hectic summer and we appreciate your patience with us and our schedules.
Quotable & Notable
"You can quite legitimately argue that if you want to reduce deficits, increase economic productivity, help with the supply chain, help with inflation, child care is a key economic policy."
who:
Elliot Haspel, the author of "Crawling Behind: America's Child Care Crisis and How To Fix It"
The Conversation covers recent stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which show how increasing grocery bills burden low-income households in particular. In 2020, the average middle-income American family spent about 12% of their income on food, compared to low-income families who spent 27% of their income on food.
Policy Radar
State
Cleveland.com explains possible uses for leftover federal ARPA dollars (and incoming money from a second ARPA wave of funding), with an important caveat that “because the federal funds are one-time money, DeWine said he wants to be sure whatever the state does with it doesn’t create a future budget hole.”
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Federal
The New Republicexamines a possible way forward for reinstitution of the Child Tax Credit, which lawmakers allowed to expire in December, despite its political popularity and its meaningful impact on reducing child poverty.
Beyond the Buckeye State
Kentucky has launched a new task force exploring early childhood education – a compromise made after state lawmakers rejected the governor’s bid to implement universal pre-K.
Pre-K in Boston is receiving another expansion, funded by $20 million from the city’s dedicated pre-K fund as well as the school district’s budget.
What We're Reading
NPR examines various strategies deployed by states to address child care market failures. These include state ballot measures, child care subsidies for the middle-class, free care for service industry employees, bonus checks, and more.
First Five Years Fund shares research which found that turnover is higher in child care centers wages are lower, which is not a huge surprise but still an important reminder about the need to value early educators. Researchers also found turnover was higher in centers serving children who receive subsidies.
Research Round Up
A study published in Pediatrics examined opportunities for physical activity in 227 classrooms serving children ages 1 to 5 years, in both child care centers and Head Start settings. While virtually all of them offered children a chance for physical activity, researchers noted much room for improvement. Only half of programs studied met national recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children receive 60-90 minutes of physical activity; about three out of four programs (74%) met AAP guidance regarding weather-permitting outdoor opportunities. The study authors concluded that “Ensuring a time and place for outdoor activity, adhering to daily physical activity schedules, and promoting staff engagement in active play may improve opportunities for US children to engage in regular physical activity critical for healthy development.”
This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary and Caitlin Lennon
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