Raising the Future: The Child Care Crisis

PBS NewsHour presents an in-depth look at how the lack of affordable, quality child care is affecting American families, which has plagued families in the U.S. for more than a century. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is transforming daily life for millions of working parents and pushing the nation’s childcare system to the brink of collapse. Out of that turmoil, a heated debate has emerged over what, if anything, can be done to better meet the needs of parents and preschool age children.

In this hour-long documentary, the PBS NewsHour reveals how shifting societal values as well as decades of federal policy have shaped the U.S. child care system into what it is today. It explores the burden costly child care places on low and middle-income families, takes viewers to cities and states experimenting with new ways of providing childcare for working parents, and delves into the political battle brewing over the idea of federally funded, universal childcare.

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