On January 8, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced plans to expand New York’s early care and education system by expanding both the state’s and city’s universal prekindergarten (UPK) system and childcare subsidies. The plan, which was further discussed in the governor’s state of the state address less than a week later, called for expanding UPK to all four-year-olds in the state, expanding UPK to all three-year-olds in New York City, and beginning a “2-Care” program to provide preschool to two-year-olds, beginning in New York City. The plan would also launch an Office of Child Care and Early Education to oversee the implementation of universal childcare.

Access to childcare has a profound impact not only on parents and caregivers themselves, but also on employers and society as a whole. Adequate childcare is necessary for parents to be able to attain and maintain high-quality employment and for businesses to continue uninterrupted operations and avoid productivity losses due to parent absences. Lack of childcare availability and affordability is associated with lower labor force participation in New York, particularly among women with children under six years old.

Lost wages due to childcare needs reduce parents’ lifetime earnings and lower the tax base both immediately and in the long term, as parents who take time off work to care for children earn less over the course of their careers. The Urban Institute estimates that, on average, mothers who provide family care earn $237,000 less over their careers, or 15 percent less, than what they would have otherwise in terms of wages, retirement, and Social Security. These losses are even higher for mothers of multiple children and working mothers with college degrees. Lost wages as a percentage of income are highest for mothers with less education, however, at 23 percent of potential earnings for mothers who did not complete high school, as well as higher for Hispanic and Black mothers generally.

The lack of affordable childcare creates economic losses of an estimated $122 billion annually in earnings, revenue, and productivity, according to a nationally representative survey of working parents and a report by the Ready Nation program, part of the Council for a Strong America, a policy think tank. For working parents with children under age three without sufficient childcare, families lose an average of $5,520 per working parent in income, businesses lose an average of $1,640 per working parent in profit, and taxpayers lose an average of $1,470 per working parent in revenue.

The new policies proposed for New York by the governor build on an existing structure of early care and education programs within the state, which have already been significantly expanded during the Hochul administration. To evaluate and predict the potential impact of these new policy proposals, it is first crucial to understand the existing early care and childcare landscape in New York, other states’ efforts, and federally funded childcare and preschool programs.

Each state and the District of Columbia has several different programs that support affordable childcare for its residents. The four most common programs are Child Care Assistance Programs, Universal Pre-Kindergarten, Head Start, and Early Head Start. All four of these programs have dedicated federal funding streams with specific eligibility requirements and many states, including New York, also use additional state funds to expand the reach of the programs. This blog discusses the current status of the two largest programs in New York: the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and the state’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program. Head Start and Early Head Start are significantly smaller programs limited to families at or below the federal poverty level (FPL), which in 2025 is $32,150 for a family of four.

Childcare Assistance Programs

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBG Act) is the primary federal mechanism used to support access to childcare programs for low-income working families. CCDBG funds are distributed directly to states, which determine how those funds are used, within limits. To be eligible for these federal subsidies, a child must be younger than 13, live with a parent or parents who are working or in a job training or education program, be a member of a family with income at or below 85 percent of state median income (SMI), and be a member of a family with assets that do not exceed $1 million.

States that extend eligibility beyond these parameters cannot use federal funds to do so. States are allowed to charge parents a share of the cost of childcare, but that share must be below 7 percent of a family’s income. The CCDBG Act also requires that states conduct a childcare market rate survey or use other appropriate strategies to determine the cost of childcare when deciding the value of childcare certificates (sometimes called vouchers).

Recent action by the Trump administration has the potential to limit childcare funding provided to states through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which includes CCDBG Act funding along with other state funds. The administration has frozen CCDF funds in addition to other social service and cash support funds for Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois, and Colorado. A federal judge has recently blocked the funding freeze, and litigation is ongoing.

New York’s CCDBG-funded program is the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). The program is administered by local departments of civil service (LDSS), which are generally counties, under the supervision and direction of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).

CCAP has been significantly expanded and standardized in recent years by New York State. The SFY 2023–24 enacted budget eliminated local priorities and population set-asides to standardize and increase eligibility across the state. That budget: (1) increased the eligibility threshold to 85 percent of SMI, which is the federal maximum; (2) set family share at 1 percent of gross income exceeding the federal poverty level (FPL)—a significantly lower family contribution than the 7 percent allowed by federal rules; and, (3) provided additional grant funding to support childcare providers and workers to assure adequate childcare spots.

Under both state and federal rules, all parents who receive CCAP are required to prove that they need the specific hours of childcare for work, training, or education. Parents must also make the equivalent of minimum wage or receive public benefits such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Work requirements and the necessity of proving work hours and income add to the administrative burden that families face when applying for, or deciding to apply for, CCAP. Parents are required to submit eligibility documentation, including documentation of their income, and provide their work or school schedule to prove that they need childcare assistance.

Once parents are approved for assistance, they are responsible for locating a childcare provider that meets the needs of their children. This is particularly difficult in OCFS-designated childcare deserts and places where data on available slots is inaccurate or not updated. According to OCFS, more than 60 percent of New York children live in a childcare desert. If the parent chooses an informal childcare provider, such as a family member or in-home babysitter, or nanny, that childcare provider must enroll with a Legally Exempt Enrollment Agency to be qualified to accept CCAP subsidized payments. There are significant enrollment requirements to receive childcare assistance as a legally exempt informal childcare provider.

In 2024, CCAP served 174,305 children from 103,763 families in New York. Sixty percent of those families were in New York City, and 40 percent of funding went toward providing care for school-aged children as opposed to those under the age of six. This was the largest number of children served in the program’s history. Based on Rockefeller Institute estimates of eligible families, only 10 to 26 percent of eligible families receive CCAP certificates. CCAP claims exceeded allocations for the first time in 2025, with more than $2.2 billion in claims and only $2.15 billion in program allocations. That difference was primarily driven by New York City, which exceeded its local allocation of CCAP funds. Of the 58 local departments of social service (LDSS) surveyed as part of the CCAP Monthly Status Report, just over half (32) reported that they were opening certificate cases for new families that qualified for, but were not guaranteed, support in October 2025. Sixteen LDSS reported that they were not opening new cases and had a waiting list, and an additional 10 LDSS were not opening new cases and did not have a waiting list. Five of the 32 LDSS opening new cases in October 2025 reported they were considering denials or waitlists in the next month due to a lack of funding. Waiting lists ranged from one month to five months and contained up to 400 families.

Status of New Cases for LDSS, October 2025

9%	Opening new cases but expect denials or waiting list next month
17%	Not opening new cases and no waiting list
28%	Not opening new cases and has a waiting list
46%	Opening new cases

SOURCE: OCFS CCAP Monthly CCBG Status Report Survey Results October 2025.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK)

New York has made significant gains towards achieving Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) for four-year-olds, and in recent years has expanded the program with the intent to provide UPK for three-year-olds in some districts. The state enrollment benchmark or target for “universal” coverage in each district is set at 85 percent of a district’s kindergarten total enrollment.

Though eligibility varies slightly based on availability and district, the general requirements are that a child must be four years old by December 1st of the school year they are enrolling in and reside in a participating school district. In New York City, children who are four by December 31st are eligible, and enrollment is not first-come, first-served but based on priorities and admissions policies.

Based on New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) enrollment data, 93 percent of districts have some form of pre-K, and 88 percent of districts have at least some full-day pre-K. Those districts account for 96 percent and 94 percent of the state’s students, respectively (because New York City is the only district that has a significant percentage of three-year-olds in UPK, we can assume that most enrollees in other districts are four-year-olds).¹ Fewer than 5 percent of pre-K students are in half-day programs, but 14 percent of three-year-olds outside of New York City are in half-day programs. The difference in UPK enrollment between New York City and the rest of the state is primarily driven by the number of spots available in each district for four-year-olds, not whether the district has a UPK program. There are very few programs for three-year-olds outside of New York City.

New York State Prekindergartners Served through UPK (NYSED data)

Pre-K Region	Total 3 & 4s Served	% of 4s Served	% of 3s Served
Capital District	4,876	54.7%	7.6%
Central New York	5,496	71.6%	17.2%
Finger Lakes	7,694	64.9%	21.2%
Hudson Valley	13,422	57.6%	1.8%
Long Island	16,017	65.9%	0.2%
Mohawk Valley	2,777	65.3%	8.9%
North Country	2,693	69.2%	8.3%
Southern Tier	3,809	68.2%	11.9%
Western New York	8,724	72.3%	6.4%
New York City	87,496	90.1%	62.5%
Rest of State	65,508	64.2%	6.5%
Statewide	153,004	74.7%	29.1%

In 2024–25, New York City was projected to spend $1.1 billion on UPK programs for three- and four-year-olds. According to the New York City Department of Education and the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, the total per-pupil expenditure for the UPK program is typically in the range of $14,000 to $17,000. This includes funding for program administration, teacher salaries, classroom resources, and support services. For comparison, the New York City Department of Education was estimated to spend between $32,284 to $42,168 per student in K-12 this past school year (2024–25).

The increasing provision of UPK for three- and four-year-olds across New York State has been made possible through both state and federal funding. For 2024–25, this included $50.5 million to serve three-year-olds and a little over $1.2 billion to serve four-year-olds in state and federal funding for pre-K. Federal funding is available through the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), with a proposed funding level of $315 million for FY 2026, as well as through the federal Head Start program. New York State allocates UPK funding to school districts using a specific allocation formula, which includes the maximum number of three- and four-year-olds that can be served, as well as the number of students that must enroll to receive the maximum allocation.

The New York State FY 2024 enacted state budget included an additional $100 million for the Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) and $50 million for a new competitive Statewide Universal Full-Day Pre-kindergarten Program (SUFDPK) grant. The requirements for SUFDPK funding were revised in 2023–24 to allow districts with higher per-student rates to access funding first. State Universal Grants (SUFDPK) are allocated at a per-pupil rate depending on the level of certification for teachers:

1. $10,000 per pupil when served by a teacher of record with New York State teacher certification in the early childhood grades, or a teaching license or certificate for students with disabilities valid for service in early childhood grades.
2. $7,000 per pupil when served by a teacher of record without a valid New York State teacher certification in early childhood grades.

While the provision of UPK has increased, there remains a gap in the availability of and enrollment in New York’s UPK program. In New York City, 90 percent of four-year-olds and 62 percent of three-year-olds are served by the program. That number is far lower in the rest of the state, with 64 percent of target four-year-olds enrolled and only 6.5 percent of target three-year-olds, Using American Communities Survey (ACS) data from the US Census Bureau, 53 percent of the state’s three-year-olds and 77 percent of four-year-olds are enrolled in some type of pre-K program, which are run through a mix of school-based UPK programs, daycare centers, Head Start, community organizations, private schools, and places of worship. It is difficult to disentangle which families are enrolled in public UPK programs using the ACS because parents may not be sure whether their children are officially in a public or private program. Parents may erroneously report that their children are in private preschool if they attend a privately run program contracted and paid for by UPK but not physically located within a public school, for example. Despite this measurement problem, a higher percentage of the state’s in-school four-year-olds are reported as attending public school (69 percent) compared to in-school three-year-olds (52 percent).

2023 US Census American Community Survey Preschool Attendance in New York State

Currently, 64 percent of districts outside of New York City have four-year-old pre-K enrollment rates above 90 percent, and those districts account for 69 percent of all public school students outside of New York City. The other “big five” school districts—Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester, and Syracuse—all have pre-K take-up rates above 100 percent (which likely means they accept at least some three-year-olds). However, several large suburban districts have significantly lower rates of UPK attendance. UPK enrollment for the 10 largest districts outside of New York City can be found in the table below, with the percentage of enrollment of UPK students relative to kindergarten students (an enrollment of 100 percent thus means that the district has an equal number of UPK students [three- or four-year-olds] as kindergarteners).²

2024–25 UPK Enrollment for 10 Largest Districts (Excluding New York City) NYSED Enrollment Data

County	District Name	Total Students	Pre-K students	Kindergarten Students	Percent Pre-K Full Day	Percent Kinder in Pre-K
Erie	Buffao	29,743	1,916	2,083	100.0%	92.0%
Westchester	Yonkers	23,941	1,295	1,540	91.3%	84.1%
Monroe	Rochester	22,473	2,705	1,372	96.6%	197.2%
Onondaga	Syracuse	19,100	1,461	1,300	87.2%	112.4%
Suffolk	Brentwood	18,539	697	1,176	100.0%	59.3%
Rockland	East Ramapo	12,806	2,386	783	86.3%	304.7%
Suffolk	Sachem	11,909	356	806	100.0%	44.2%
Orange	Newburgh	10,935	535	737	100.0%	72.6%
Dutchess	Wappingers	10,407	334	665	100.0%	50.2%
Westchester	New Rochelle	10,100	414	753	32.9%	55.0%

In New York State, 40 districts offer no UPK program at all. These districts are diverse in terms of geography and size, ranging from the 112-student Whitesville district in Allegany County to the 6,460-student district of Massapequa in Nassau County. Eighteen of the 40 districts are in Westchester County, whereas all other counties have at most three districts without a UPK program.

Implications for Universal Childcare Expansions

New York has significantly expanded its early care and education system in recent years. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) expanded eligibility to families making up to 85 percent of the state’s median income and has a very low required family contribution of less than 1 percent of total income. Further, the state has continued to expand access to Universal Pre-Kindergarten for both four- and three-year-olds across the state. The recent childcare policy proposals included in the governor’s state of the state have the potential to greatly expand the number of New York families that have access to affordable childcare, both through the UPK system and through increased funding for CCAP. The proposals appear to further recognize that expanding the early care and education system in New York also requires expanding the childcare and elementary education workforce through additional training and education in the field. We plan to discuss the state of New York’s early care and education workforce in an upcoming blog post.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Leigh Wedenoja is chief economist at the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

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[1] NYSED enrollment data by school district does not include preschool students by age, only the total count of preschool students in full or half-day programs.

[2] UPK Enrollment data for all New York school districts, including calculations of percent of kindergarten enrollment.