Policy Impact Calculator

From Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, this interactive calculator demonstrates, state-by-state, how policy choices affect working families. See how wages, paid leave, nutrition programs, child care subsidies, and tax credits shape the financial resources available to families with young children in your state. 

State Child Care Fact Sheets

First Five Years Fund offers a variety of annually updated state fact sheets on Child Care and Early Learning, CCDBG, Head Start, and impacts of PDG B-5 grants.

Early Childhood Data Collaborative (ECDC) 

The ECDC supports state policymakers’ development and use of coordinated state early care and education (ECE) data systems, providing tools and resources to encourage data-driven state policy changes and a national forum to support the development and use of coordinated state ECE data systems.

The Zaentz Navigator 

Harvard's Graduate School of Education hosts this interactive digital tool that helps policymakers and leaders learn how cities and states across the country are tackling the same issues they face as they work to structure, finance, expand, and improve early education and care.

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Child Care Gaps Assessment 

The Child Care Trust, a collaboration between Child Care Aware of America, Bipartisan Policy Center, and Buffett Early Childhood Institute, offers this interactive map examining the potential need for child care, the legally operating supply, and the gaps in all 50 states and DC. 

Mapping the Gap™ 

Child Care Aware of America offers this portal to clear, accessible insights and a historical view of child care access. 

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Children's Funding Project

Children's Funding Project helps local, state, and Native nation leaders identify sustainable ways to fund their goals for kids.

An Uneven Start 2026 

Child Care Aware of America's annual look at state child care and preschool funding across 44 states and DC.

Strategic Financing for Early Care and Education Systems

National Governors Association offers this guide aimed at state leaders building sustainable financing strategies.

Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies 

P5FS works with states and communities across the United States to conduct comprehensive fiscal analyses, develop fiscal models and fiscal maps, lead constituent engagement activities, and develop recommendations aligned with the state or communities principles. 

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National Early Care and Education Workforce Center

Provides states and local leaders technical assistance on ECE workforce policy, with compensation as a top focus area.

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment 

UC Berkeley offers leading research on early educator pay, working conditions, and career pathways.

NAEYC ECE Workforce Survey 

The National Association for the Education of Young Children produces this largest annual survey of ECE educators and program leaders on compensation, staffing, and classroom conditions.

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Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) 

EPIC enables the business community to build the workforce of tomorrow while supporting the workforce of today. Join influential business leaders across the nation bringing positive change to their communities, the workforce and the economy.

National Business Coalition for Child Care (NBCC)

Moms First mobilizes businesses by organizing employers to expand workplace policies and champion child care as an economic imperative to help change public policy. Check out their Research & Resources page for recent reports.

Untapped Potential Economic Impact Reports

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation offers state-by-state data on the cost of the child care to each state's economy. Their Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council (with Bipartisan Policy Center) grew to 13 states in 2026 and is actively unlocking new tax credit and financing tools for employers. 

ReadyNation: The Child Care Crisis Costs the U.S. Economy $172 Billion Each Year (2026 Report)

ReadyNation's new study finds America's child care crisis now costs $172 billion a year in lost earnings and productivity, showing the escalating toll on parents, employers, and taxpayers as the country fails to fix its child care infrastructure.

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National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers

Central site for organizations across the US focused on the health and well-being of infants, toddlers, their families, and caregivers. National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers and its members support federal state, local, and tribal efforts to pass effective policies and to maximize public investments in PN-3 systems.

Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center

The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, based in Vanderbilt University‘s Peabody College, offers research and nonpartisan policy expertise to state leaders to achieve their goals for child and parent wellbeing, as well as the health, safety, and prosperity of communities. 

Zero to Three

Zero to Three is a national non-profit organization committed to supporting babies, toddlers, families, and caregivers to ensure all children, regardless of background, have the tools they need to develop their potential.  

The State of Preschool Yearbook

The State of Preschool Yearbook, updated annually by the National Institute for Early Education Research, tracks state-funded preschool program funding, access, and policies.

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