Hechinger Report describes the federal Early Head Start program as a model for scaled-up national child care. OSU is home to a model EHS program, which you can learn more about here. 
Quotable & Notable
“Ultimately, we must shift the way that we think about child care in America. Rather than a small logistic that parents are expected to sort out, we must recognize that child care is a fundamental prerequisite for American families to function. If we don’t better support child care, it will continue to disappear — and so will a large swath of our country’s workforce.” 
who:
Carrie Masten, Nat Kendall-Taylor, and Natalie Renew

where:
 
Fact of the Week
Former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor Heidi Shierholz has estimated that if the U.S. maternal employment rate was equivalent to Canada or Germany (countries where subsidized child care is the norm), it would raise the GDP by 3.5% and generate over $500 billion annually.
Events & Happenings
Join us on Wednesday, February 2nd from 12-1 pm for the first Crane Research Forum of the year. Drs. Vladimir Kogan and Stéphane Lavertu will present on their research concerning how the pandemic affected student learning in Ohio. Register here.  
Beyond the Buckeye State
The state of Arkansas is finalizing a new statewide “tutoring corps” to combat COVID-19 student learning loss. The program, established through state law and funded through federal emergency relief funds, will provide stipends to tutors – state-licensed teachers, retired teachers, teacher trainees, college students, or community members – to provide services at approved tutoring sites to the most at-risk learners. 
 
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation published analyses that estimate the economic losses in various states due to breakdowns of the child care industry. Estimated state economic losses for the five states (Ohio not included) ranged from hundreds of millions to over a billion, annually. 
 
New America looks at paid leave in West Virginia, where 65-70% of employees in the state don't have access to it, by interviewing four women who either work for small businesses or are small business owners. The state legislature has proposed paid leave which would employ an employer-employee share approach to finance the program, which some small business owners say would still be a financial strain.
What We're Reading
NPR describes the myriad ways in which companies are providing employees with child care benefits in response to the pandemic, including providing on-site child care, subsidizing care, and providing stipends for child care. 
 
An issue brief from the National Partnership for Women and Families examines the role of health and caregiving needs as one strong reason for the “great resignation,” and calls for national paid family and medical leave. 
 
The Center for American Progress released their annual state fact sheets on the early childhood landscape across the country. Ohio’s fact sheet shows an “insufficient supply of affordable, quality child care” and that “limited and unpredictable revenue available to early learning programs leaves the early childhood workforce woefully underpaid”. 
Research Round Up
This piece published in The Conversation describes research from three University of Chicago researchers who examined the impact of two interventions designed to impact parental beliefs about child development. While both interventions positively influenced parental beliefs that their own investments could affect their children’s development, the more intensive program resulted in more parent-child interactions which subsequently impacted children’s vocabulary, math skills, and socio-emotional health. 
 
This blog published by Brookings describes research from a Virginia program with a naturally occurring lottery (randomized control) that provided incentives for early childhood educators. The financial incentives had positive effects, such as reduced turnover and helping teachers offset basic expenses. But the authors caution that “reliance on one-off grants or temporary pandemic relief funds... is not a sustainable solution to this sector’s long-standing staffing challenges.” 
This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist
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