In 2020, Early learning became a major focal point of candidates and elected officials at all levels of government on both sides of the aisle, with voters increasingly looking to policymakers for solutions to the child care challenges facing working parents.
Never before had the issue of child care received such broad and consistent public attention in a presidential election, which will only serve to elevate the issue in races up and down the ballot.
What’s more, Republicans and Democrats who ran for office understood that voters were paying attention to their positions on early learning and care.
Candidates on the campaign trail leveraged quality child care – not just as a policy priority, but as a political opportunity to reach voters on both sides of the aisle.
Early in 2020, FFYF began working to leverage the presidential election as a way to advance early learning and care nationwide. Our efforts leading up to the General Election in November were focused on amplifying the expansive and wide-ranging opportunities for engagement on early learning and child care, which had the potential to withstand the heated presidential contest, build consensus across parties, and ultimately deliver results for America’s children and families.
As a result of our work, child care and early learning were in the national spotlight like never before, and that is due to the passion and dedication of hundreds of thousands of Americans who took action and called on their elected officials and candidates for public office to pay attention to the needs of child care providers, educators, families, and most importantly our nation’s youngest learners.
