Why Expanding Access to Childcare Isn't Enough

By 2021, if New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gets his way, a hedge-fund manager with a seven-figure salary would pay the same amount to send his 3-year-old daughter to preschool as a single mom working as a cashier would pay for hers: nothing. Last month, de Blasio his plan to provide free preschool for the city’s 3-year-olds, adding to the already robust program that provides education for 4-year-olds in New York. Increasing the availability and affordability of early-childhood education bipartisan support; universal programs already exist the , and six in 10 Americans pre-k should be free for everyone. But simply expanding access isn’t enough to help children—especially male children.