The lack of affordable and accessible child care for working class families is a critical issue facing New York City and its future.
Making the city more affordable requires a wide array of policy interventions, from increasing the supply of housing to providing better wages and quality jobs. The conversation about affordability must also include new solutions to address challenges facing our child care sector.
Today, there are not enough child care seats in the neighborhoods where they are most needed, and the process to build and open new centers is overly complex due to outdated rules and regulations. That is why we are launching a new coalition of business, labor and nonprofit leaders –Better Child Care NYC– and a plan to address this challenge.
First, the State should enable the City of New York to update its $25 million tax credit program for property owners who retrofit space into new child care centers. The City is not getting the bang for its buck as the tax credit is currently modeled.
Under the program, the City provides property owners with a credit that does not cover the costs of completing the retrofit and operating a typical child care center. Since it does not cover the property owner’s costs, the credit often cannot be put to use.
The State can solve this by increasing the value of each individual tax credit. To be clear, there would be no need to add money to the program – the City would still use the same $25 million, but it would deliver credits in a more targeted and effective manner. Our research shows this could create thousands more desperately needed new child care seats in areas that need them most, especially in the boroughs outside Manhattan.
Another way to deliver better results for families is to remember that we are a 24-hour city. Our workforce reflects that, but our current child care system does not.
That’s why it’s time to extend child care hours. According to The Century Foundation, 64 percent of families with children under the age of six have both parents in the workforce. And with child care costs in New York City among the highest in the nation at approximately $16,000 per child, parents are often forced to make tough decisions in caring for their children.
Parents shouldn’t have to choose between earning income and finding child care. City legislation could help remove barriers for extending child care hours, which would give parents more job flexibility and help them build wealth – critical for their household and for the local economy.
We must also modernize the outdated laws and bureaucratic processes that can delay new centers from opening or prevent them from existing altogether.
Right now, the law only allows infant and toddler child care on the first floor of buildings. We recognize there are some safety considerations involved in this law. However, in a city as densely built as New York, this severely restricts where child care centers can exist and explains why so many neighborhoods have become child care deserts. This can be addressed with City legislation to amend Article 47 of the New York City Health Law. The amendment would simplify the waiver process to allow child care centers above and below ground floors, while also ensuring that such centers can operate safely.
Before a child care center can open, several specialized permits are required and must be renewed every two years — creating yet another onerous process for operators. Multiple agencies, including the FDNY, Department of Buildings and Department of Health, are tasked with issuing these permits. These agencies face understaffing and retention issues which can slow down the permit process and leave the operation of child care centers in limbo.
Let’s cut the red tape and create a fast track for child care permit approvals. This will get seats online faster and make the entire permit process more efficient. The City can go one step further and streamline the various agency inspections needed to open a child care center. Creating a wraparound inspection team with designated point people will ensure child care centers get built safely — on time and on budget.
Even as New York City continues to move toward a full economic recovery, there is much work to be done to prevent hardworking families from getting left behind. Affordability of these centers is a remaining challenge, and our coalition partners are committed to working with all stakeholders to address the best ways to help parents pay for child care seats that are secured with these changes.
Our diverse coalition agrees on this straightforward plan to improve child care for New Yorkers. Let’s make it happen and ensure our city remains a place where people want to— and can —work and raise a family.
Henry Garrido is Executive Director of District Council 37 and James Whelan is President of the Real Estate Board of New York.
