New York’s Child Care Industry Second Worst In US For Cost, Overregulation: Report

Excerpt:

New York state’s was ranked second-worst in the US for its costly, stringent rules on child care centers, a new analysis claimed.

The right-leaning think tank the Archbridge Institute said the Empire State should be looking to cut down bureaucratic red tape and “end regulatory” burdens to drive costs down — instead of plans favored by Democrats Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to funnel taxpayer money to expand coverage for youngsters.

“Rather than pursuing costly taxpayer-funded subsidies and state-sponsored programs, we recommend reducing regulatory burdens on childcare providers that ultimately harm parents by increasing barriers to entry and raising the cost of childcare,” the group said in its “child care freedom” analysis — which ranked Vermont at No. 50.

“On the issue of childcare, a more affordable America means a less regulated America—from one state to the next.”

The study rates state policies and regulations for center-based child care facilities, including child-to-staff ratio requirements by age; maximum group sizes by age; required annual training hours for staff; and minimum educational requirements for center directors and lead teachers.

States with higher education requirements to obtain a license to become child care directors and teachers received a lower grade. […]

Edward Timmons, the Archridge Institute’s vice president of policy, said New York should find other solutions to bringing down costs instead of using taxpayer dollars to provide free care.

“Instead of fiscally reckless proposals to provide free child care, Gov. Hochul should work with legislators to loosen overly restrictive regulations in New York to increase choice and improve competition,” Timmons said Sunday.

“Increasing the number of children permitted to be supervised by staff and increasing maximum group size will give parents more choice in the market,” he went on. “Research shows that these regulations do not improve quality of care or child safety, but we do know that they are associated with higher costs.”

Read the full article at The New York Post.

Read the State Childcare Regulations Index report here.