Opinion: A Bold New Blueprint for Universal Child Care in NYC

My plan would use a million capital from our city s pension funds a smart long-term real estate venture to finance the expansion of child care facilities across the five boroughs Michael Appleton Mayoral Photography Office New York City has a serious question that necessities answering Do we want to be a global hub for hungry ambitious and resilient people determined to make a better life for themselves and their families Do we believe that working parents have a place here that they are in fact critical to the lifeblood of the city The bulk people would say yes of class But as any parent in this city can tell you we are falling maddeningly short of our aspirations You know a system is broken when so a great number of people cannot afford to work or are just hanging on to their jobs because they can t afford to pay for child care This isn t just a personal issue it s a agenda failure and it s gone on too long That s why I m proud to introduce my universal child care plan It s called the CARES Plan Comptroller s Audit Supply Enhancements for Universal Child Care and uses the capital and information we already have to change the way we live What I m proposing isn t certain radical pie-in-the-sky plan that will inevitably get watered down by special interests and city leaders doing their bidding Instead my plan would use a million financing from our city s pension funds a smart long-term real estate outlay to finance the expansion of child care facilities across the five boroughs Pension funds invest in real estate all the time My spin on this is simple let s make those investments work double-duty by solving one of our biggest crises By financing child care centers we get long-term returns for our retirees and immediate help for working parents I m also calling for a Child Care Property Fund to encouragement the acquisition and advance of high-quality affordable child care centers Thousands of families live in child care deserts where options are scarce or unaffordable or both Targeting these underserved areas means promising New Yorkers that your zip code isn t the thing that determines whether you can find safe nurturing care for your kids We should also use social impact bonds to attract private financing into the populace sphere These bonds would fund child care programs that have measurable success with investors repaid only if a series of strategic benchmarks are achieved It s a smart way to keep everyone s eyes on the ball As comptroller I ll audit every city agency involved in child care Providers face slow payments and bureaucratic hurdles that limit the number of seats available By streamlining the system we ll ensure providers get paid on time and parents get better options The economic occurrence is clear New York City loses billion a year because parents especially women are forced to leave the workforce or reduce their hours due to lack of affordable child care Nationally the U S economic activity loses billion a year for the same reason Investing in child care is one of the smartest economic decisions we can make It s also a moral obligation If you really want to know a city s priorities don t listen to political rhetoric Just look at its budget how it spends where it invests and who benefits When families have access to affordable child care our workforce grows stronger Businesses have a larger more stable labor pool Child care workers gain better more secure jobs That s why my plan fights for pay parity for child care workers because they deserve wages and benefits that reflect the critical importance of their work Investing in the workforce that takes care of our children is just as vital as investing in the buildings where that care happens Smart real estate investments tied to child care centers strengthen our pension funds and build a stronger city Stronger families mean a stronger tax base This is how we retain top talent keep our economic activity dynamic and ensure New York City remains a place where working families can thrive In short investing in child care is a win-win-win It keeps working families in New York City It strengthens our business activity It builds long-term value for our pensioners And it s the right thing to do for the next generation My CARES Plan gives us a blueprint It s bold practical and doable And here s the thing if we get this done New York City will be the first city in the nation to offer universal child care We will lead the way and the nation will follow That s what New York has constantly done we dream big we set the standard and we show the world what s manageable Universal child care should be no exception Let s get to work Justin Brannan is a member of the City Council representing Brooklyn s th District and a candidate running for NYC Comptroller The post Opinion A Bold New Blueprint for Universal Child Care in NYC appeared first on City Limits