Childcare for All is a statewide campaign for universal childcare in Minnesota. We're a movement of parents, early educators, business owners, and community members who are coming together to make childcare work better for all of us.

We believe every child deserves a strong start, every family deserves free childcare close to home, and every early educator deserves professional pay, benefits, and respect.

In order to get there, our state must significantly increase public investment to fund childcare as a public good, the same way we do public education.

The short answer: it doesn't work for far too many Minnesotans.

Families are struggling with some of the highest childcare costs in the country, while providers face rising expenses, staffing shortages, and program closures. Early educators — who play a critical role in children's development — are underpaid and leaving the field.

Minnesota has the third-highest average cost of infant childcare in the nation, at about $22,000 per year. For many Minnesotans, it's more than rent or mortgage payments. Yet the average childcare worker earns only about $14 per hour.

Providers are caught in an impossible bind: families can't afford higher tuition, but current rates still don't cover the true cost of providing quality care and fair wages for teachers. As a result, childcare programs are closing, hitting Greater Minnesota especially hard. Today, more than one in four Minnesotans live in a place with limited or no access to childcare.

Yes. Minnesota has critical programs such as Early Learning Scholarships and the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) that help many families afford care.

These programs are essential, but they don't reach everyone who needs them. Eligible families often face long waitlists, with some children aging out of childcare before ever receiving assistance. Even more families who struggle with childcare costs don't qualify for assistance at all, since eligibility is capped at roughly $67,000 in pre-tax household income for a family of four.

Funding for these programs is also not consistently sufficient or stable to meet demand. CCAP, for example, depends on a mix of state and federal funding, and has recently faced threats from our federal government to freeze assistance entirely.

Childcare for All is about creating a lasting, statewide solution rather than relying on a patchwork of underfunded programs that currently only serve a portion of Minnesota families.

Our long-term vision is simple: free childcare for every family in Minnesota. As we move toward that goal, we'd like to see Minnesota comply with our state's recommendation that no family pays more than 7% of their income on childcare.

Today, families aren't choosing childcare based on what works best for their child — they're choosing based on what they can afford or where there's an opening. In many communities, there are too few options to choose from at all.

Childcare for All changes that by funding providers directly so they are not dependent on tuition. That creates a more stable system where programs can stay open, expand, and provide high-quality care.

Families should be able to choose the setting that works best for them — whether that's a childcare center, family childcare, or school-based program — without cost being the deciding factor.

One of the biggest reasons Minnesota has a childcare shortage is that the current system doesn't provide enough public funding to support the true cost of care.

Many providers want to expand or open new programs but cannot make the numbers work. Others are forced to close due to staffing shortages or rising costs.

With stable public funding, childcare providers can hire and retain educators, expand capacity, and open programs in communities that currently lack options. That means more openings and shorter waitlists over time.

Childcare for All supports Minnesota's mixed-delivery system, which includes childcare centers, family childcare providers, school-based programs, Head Start, and other care settings.

Childcare for All would strengthen these existing programs through stable, increased public funding. Providers would have the resources they need to offer quality care, educators would receive professional pay, and families would benefit from more choices and greater access.

A strong childcare system depends on many different types of providers. Childcare for All is designed to support all of them.

Early childhood educators are highly skilled professionals doing some of the most important work in our communities. Yet too many are forced to choose between a career they love and making ends meet. Low wages and limited benefits drive talented educators out of the field, contributing to staffing shortages and childcare closures across Minnesota.

Childcare for All would establish a professional career and wage ladder that recognizes educators' experience and credentials, with compensation and benefits in line with K-12 educators. When educators can afford to stay in the field, families gain access to more stable, experienced, and high-quality care.

The benefits extend far beyond the childcare sector. Reliable, affordable childcare allows parents — especially mothers — to stay in the workforce, pursue career opportunities, and support their families. Childcare is the infrastructure that makes every other job possible and strengthens our entire economy.

Like public schools, Childcare for All would be publicly funded. The exact funding model will be developed through the legislative process, with input from families, early educators, childcare providers, and communities across Minnesota.

Minnesota has the resources to make Childcare for All a reality. Instead of continuing to shift costs onto working families, we should make greedy corporations, Big Tech giants, and the wealthiest Minnesotans pay what they owe. Companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon make billions of dollars collecting our data, selling targeted ads, and profiting from Minnesota consumers. Yet most of that wealth leaves our state rather than being invested in the communities that made those profits possible.

We estimate that a universal childcare system would require an investment of roughly $2–4 billion per year to be effective and sustainable. A $2 billion annual investment would represent about 5% of Minnesota's state budget — less than we currently invest in higher education and far less than we invest in K-12 education.

Minnesotans are already paying the costs of the childcare crisis every day. A lack of childcare costs Minnesota approximately $2.9 billion in lost earnings and productivity every year — lost wages for parents, higher costs for businesses, and economic ripple effects throughout our communities.

Childcare for All is a long-term investment in Minnesota's future. For every $1 we put into childcare and early learning, the return on investment is up to $17. Research shows that investment early in a child's life leads to higher graduation rates, higher parental income, and better health.

Minnesota has been talking about the childcare crisis for years without addressing it at the scale that is needed. That's why we are building a movement capable of winning real, structural change.

Our goal is to build majority support in the Minnesota House and Senate during the 2027 legislative session for a Childcare for All bill.

This will only happen if parents, early educators, and community members organize together and show up to demand a system that works for everyone.