The evolution of child care from a collective good to an inequitable “choice” model

This is part of a three-part series in which MDC examines the social and political history of domestic work in America, specifically in Southern states, and factors that have led to the current child care crisis. We consider key roadblocks to meaningful change and highlight how we can continue the legacy of care workers’ resistance by advocating for an equitable system of care.

Today in North Carolina, if someone cares for three or more children for more than four hours a day for two consecutive days, and the state does not license them to work as a child care provider, they can face a Class I felony: the same category as embezzlement and larceny. If convicted, they can face up to a year in prison.

If that seems like an extreme consequence of providing unlicensed child care, that’s because it is. The classification of such an offense as a criminal violation—a felony, no less—rather than a civil offense suggests that current child care policies exceed the bounds of their original intent, which is to ensure the safety and quality of child care for all children.

The state of child care in North Carolina today suggests that these draconian policies have the opposite effect: rather than ensuring that child care is safe, they drive child care providers out of the profession entirely. While the number of child care centers operating in North Carolina has remained relatively consistent since 2019, the number of family child care homes has decreased by 18%. In 2023, nearly 20% of the state’s home-based providers said they anticipated leaving the field within the next three years. Losing providers at this steep rate means child care is accessible for fewer children and families.

North Carolina’s families are left on their own to navigate child care’s murky waters and find a suitable provider they can afford. If they do not secure the right child care for their children, a parent might have to cut their hours or leave the workforce. A grandparent might step in, if there’s one nearby and in good health. As with many things in our society, it all comes down to luck and wealth.

As economic conditions, political dynamics, and social norms have changed over time, the values underlying child care have also changed. Understanding the current system and why it persists despite its faults is helpful in understanding these values and how they developed. The quintessentially American value of individualism argues that each of us has the power to shape our destiny, and the government should have a limited role in determining our path.

Read the entire article here. 

Descargue el informe en español aquí.

Read the other stories in the series:

• “Still undervalued and underfunded: The invisible child care workforce” explores the roots of low wages and chronic undervaluing of child care providers in the U.S.
• “Racial divisions prevent us from winning child care change” examines how longstanding racial divides have hindered transformational change within the child care sector.

MDC is grateful to the National Domestic Workers Alliance for its History of Domestic Work and Worker Organizing timeline and to the National Women’s Law Center for “Undervalued: A Brief History of Women’s Care Work and Child Care Policy in the United States.” We want to express our gratitude to the participants in our programs, specifically to the Home-Based Child Care (HBCC) Community of Practice members and HBCC Haven providers; their lived experience and work in their communities have greatly informed this analysis.