As a historic women’s agency, YWCA Columbus sees firsthand the discrimination and disparity that occurs in the childcare sector. Beyond the industry of childcare, however, YWCA Columbus seeks to protect and encourage youth development as a universal right. All children deserve to be ready by kindergarten, with access to high quality afterschool programs, and their families represented in the policymaking process.

Consider the following:

• Approximately six out of ten families whose children were cared for outside the home in Franklin County reported having a somewhat or very difficult time finding quality care for their child. With that said, parents reported difficulty in finding quality care were significantly higher in Linden, Hilltop, and Southside by approximately 10 percentage points.

• In the United States, the wealthiest nation on Earth, nearly 1 in 5 children live in poverty. Ohio mirrors these statistics as well.

• In Central Ohio, there are three times more households headed by single women (11.8% of all households) than households headed by single men (3.9%). Single parent households are disproportionately low-income; the excess burden of expensive childcare leaves them vulnerable to further impoverishment.

Now is the time to invest in youth development and build public infrastructure to holistically support caregivers and children. Affordable and high quality childcare and youth development programs will support educational outcomes for children, creating long-term impacts for their academic success and later workforce success.