Statement: Thousands of New Yorkers secure expansion of child care across the state

STatement: Thousands of New Yorkers secure expansion of child care across the state

Today marks a huge win in the child care fight and represents a meaningful first step on the path to delivering universal child care to every New Yorker. Governor Hochul has announced a child care package: rolling out free child care for 2-year-olds, strengthening the existing 3k program in NYC this fall, and expanding pre-k statewide by 2028. This win is only possible because thousands of working class New Yorkers, led by NYC-DSA and our coalition partners, have spent the past year raising expectations around tackling the affordability crisis and organizing to win the city we deserve. We’re enormously proud of democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made real advances for working people with just 8 days in office. 

This is a victory for the people of the state of NY, who desperately need relief from the mounting costs of child care that only exacerbate the cost of living crisis. We are committed to our fight for recurring, permanent funding to ensure free, all-day, year-round universal child care is available to all New Yorkers in the state, year after year. We need to ensure child care workers are paid a living wage and that pay parity between public and private providers is achieved. And to stabilize the provision of these public services, we need to tax the wealthiest individuals and corporations what they owe. 

At a moment when Trump’s tax cuts and attacks on social services from SNAP to Medicaid to child care are escalating, we continue to fight for more — including a state budget that delivers for the working class of New York.

NYC-DSA co-chairs Gustavo Gordillo and Grace Mausser are available for interview about today’s announcement and can be reached at press@socialists.nyc