COVID-19 and Child Care

Child care is vital infrastructure for our economy. Any talk of increasing state economic activity must include a hard look at the child care landscape for inequities laid bare or worsened by the pandemic. Southern leaders must address immediate needs as well as long-standing, structural issues. We need a bold vision for child care from Southern leaders. This issue brief discusses the immediate needs of the child care industry, state actions across the South, and the threats to programs serving vulnerable communities.