Executive Summary

In 2021, following the failure of Build Back Better legislation to invest significant federal dollars in building public care infrastructure in the United States, the Better Life Lab embarked on an exploration of small-scale solutions and successes working to address the care crisis already underway at the state and local level. By capturing these innovations through interviews and reporting, we hoped this could inspire others in the sector and help lead to a universal child care system that is equitable, affordable, and accessible.

This sparked the idea for a solutions journalism–based reporting grant initiative, launched in 2021. Since then, the Better Life Lab has worked closely to support cohorts of diverse storytellers, helping them report with depth and nuance on child care innovations.

Building on the efforts of previous years, this report captures another round of child care reporting grants and the stories that emerged from them. It collects reporting from independent journalists, writers, and content creators from a variety of backgrounds and regions in the country focused on the child care crisis, supported by the Better Life Lab. Together with our in-house experts, 11 independent reporters and content creators produced 24 stories on early care and education that appeared in 14 different outlets covering 16 U.S. states and Washington, DC.

Through our reporting grant initiative, we showcase that child care problems exist across the country at every socioeconomic level—disproportionately impacting the most marginalized and least-resourced populations. By focusing on the ways in which child care policy can uplift and transform communities, we were able to bring attention to a topic that is often under-reported and misunderstood. This is part of the Better Life Lab’s larger narrative change work that seeks to shift mindsets about the role of care and expand the sense of what’s possible in policy, practice, and culture, so that all individuals and families can thrive.