Executive Summary

Building on the success of our previous child care reporting grants, the Better Life Lab launched another round of reporting grants to deepen public understanding of the child care crisis and highlight communities, policymakers, educators, and innovators working toward solutions. Guided by a solutions-journalism approach, we continued to invest in rigorous reporting that documents the challenges facing families and providers as well as promising practices emerging across the country.

This reporting cycle produced 35 stories and projects across multiple formats and platforms. While most were written features, the collection also included a documentary film, an audio story, and a series of stories exploring child care from multiple angles, funded by a single reporting grant. Together, these projects demonstrated the many ways journalists can engage audiences and tell complex stories about care infrastructure.

Approximately half the stories were written by two Better Life Lab members, Elliot Haspel and Rebecca Gale, with the remaining stories produced by a diverse group of reporting grantees. This cohort primarily included experienced journalists, alongside two new writers and one emerging voice, reflecting Better Life Lab’s continued commitment to supporting both established and rising storytellers who can bring nuance, expertise, and fresh perspectives to child care reporting.

The stories reached audiences through a broad range of publications. The reporting appeared in national outlets, including Vox, The Atlantic, Fast Company, The Guardian, The Purse, and BlackPressUSA, and local outlets, including the Wisconsin Examiner, The Daily Yonder, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Las Cruces Sun-News, and KERA in Dallas. We also intentionally sought to reach audiences across the political spectrum with stories in publications such as The Dispatch, The Nation, and Jacobin, recognizing that child care affects families regardless of political affiliation. In addition, we maintained a strong presence in outlets focused on education and early childhood, including The 74, The Hechinger Report, and EdNC, ensuring that reporting reached policymakers, practitioners, and education stakeholders.

Throughout the reporting process, the Better Life Lab continued to provide editorial collaboration and strategic support to grantees, helping to strengthen reporting, connect journalists with sources, and maximize the reach and impact of each story. This reporting cycle also expanded our approach to audience engagement. In addition to published stories, each reporting grantee was encouraged to create a short video introducing their work on social media, extending the life of each project and helping them reach audiences beyond traditional news consumers. We also launched a partnership with Public News Service, which adapted one story each month as an audio news feature widely distributed to radio stations, bringing reporting on child care innovations to tens of thousands of additional listeners.

Together, these stories reinforce a central lesson of our reporting: Meaningful change is already happening. Across the country, communities are testing new ideas, expanding public investment, and developing innovative approaches to child care. By documenting both successes and challenges, these stories create a growing body of evidence that can inform future policy, inspire local action, and demonstrate what effective child care systems can look like.