High-quality early care and education for children from birth to kindergarten entry is critical to positive child development and has the potential to generate economic returns, which benefit not only children and their families but society at large. Despite the great promise of early care and education, it has been financed in such a way that high-quality early care and education have only been available to a fraction of the families needing and desiring it and does little to further develop the early-care-and-education (ECE) workforce. It is neither sustainable nor adequate to provide the quality of care and learning that children and families need - a shortfall that further perpetuates and drives inequality. In light of these challenges, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine were asked to convene a committee of experts to study how to fund early care and education for children from birth to kindergarten entry that is accessible, affordable for families, and of high quality, including a well-qualified and adequately supported workforce consistent with the research and vision outlined in the 2015 report by a study committee of the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation (the Transforming report).
Transforming the financing structure for early care and education to meet the needs of all children and families and the workforce that provides services will require greater harmonization and coordination among financing mechanisms and significant mobilization of financial and other resources. The necessary changes will not come quickly, easily, or without cost.