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The True Cost of Child Care: Erie County NY (Final Report)

Date: Oct 26, 2022
Author(s): Lou Jean Fleron, Russell Weaver, Catherine Creighton
Topic(s): Economic Development: Economic Conditions, Economic Development: General, Economic Development: Policies and Programs, Economic Development: Workforce Development, Education: Early Childhood Education, Education: General, Education: Poverty and Education, Government: Budgets, Government: General, Poverty / Income Inequality: Economic Inequality, Poverty / Income Inequality: General, Poverty / Income Inequality: Low-Wage Work, Poverty / Income Inequality: Public Assistance
Type: Report
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Funded by Erie County and supplemented with New York state funds allocated to the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, the study builds on the Phase One report issued earlier this year and analyzes data on the child care industry and workforce for both Erie County and the state.

This Phase Two of a collaborative action research report illuminates both kinds of costs: current operational monetary costs per child at the enterprise or institutional level, and indicators of broader social costs of the existing child care system itself in Erie County and New York State. Undertaken by Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab and Erie County’s Live Well Erie Emergency Child Care Task Force, the year-long project has provided vital empirical information for advocates, care providers, child care service organizations, and local government agencies, as well as to New York State elected officials through the 2022 budget debates and decisions.