Integrating Child Care in Long-Term Development Projects
A resilient community relies on thoughtful, long-term planning that encompasses the needs of families, workers, and local economies alike. By prioritizing child care as essential infrastructure alongside transportation, housing, and public amenities, communities can ensure sustained economic and social health. Integrating child care facilities into diverse community spaces—such as housing developments, business districts, and even underutilized public lands—provides a foundation of stability, particularly in areas facing child care deserts. Such investments strengthen core resilience factors by enabling workforce participation, fostering local economic activity, and enhancing quality of life.
For decision-makers in municipal planning, economic development, and community building, this approach offers a high-return strategy to attract businesses, retain talent, and build a robust workforce. Embedding child care within development projects enhances accessibility and supports underserved communities, ensuring that all families have the resources needed to thrive. As a core component of infrastructure, accessible early learning and care centers amplify the community’s ability to withstand economic shifts, attract diverse residents, and maintain a vibrant, interconnected workforce. Building a resilient community means recognizing and planning for the essential role of child care in the broader framework of long-term economic and social stability.
Tools & Resources
Zoning and Tax Assistance Guides: Summary Report, General Recommendations
The Economics of Child Care Supply (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis child care affordability factsheets.
Stories
What is social infrastructure, and how does it support economic growth in the United States?
Economic Effects from Preschool and Childcare Programs:
One State Rolled Out a Promising Child Care Model. Now Others Are Replicating It.
Child Care is Infrastructure: Evidence from Universal Pre-K
The First Five Things To Know About: Child Care Is Infrastructure
National Women’s Law Center Blog on Child Care & Early Learning
Partners/Champion
Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
Early Childhood Investment Corporation
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)
First Five Years Fund (FFYF)
Next Steps: What Development Can Do
Integrate child care centers into regional development plans, including business districts, housing, and public spaces. Embedding child care within regional development plans ensures communities are structured to meet the needs of working families from the outset. This approach calls for collaboration with zoning boards, city planners, and economic developers to designate areas in new and existing projects for child care facilities, particularly in high-traffic public spaces like business districts, mixed-use developments, and housing complexes.
Use frameworks like Redevelopment Ready Communities to promote early learning as a central aspect of community resilience. Leveraging established frameworks such as Redevelopment Ready Communities allows planners and developers to incorporate child care infrastructure seamlessly into broader community improvement initiatives. Through partnerships with municipal governments and community development agencies, planners can assess current child care availability and identify gaps that impede family and workforce engagement.
Encourage local and regional economic development leaders to support ECD investments as a strategy to improve both short-term workforce participation and long-term community resilience.
Economic development leaders play a vital role in advocating for early childhood development (ECD) as a strategic investment that benefits workforce readiness and economic resilience. By engaging ECD in discussions on community growth and business attraction, economic leaders can promote a comprehensive view of child care as fundamental to sustained economic strength.
Support early learning business development by helping with zoning, tax challenges, and site searches.
Encouraging early learning business growth requires addressing zoning and tax barriers that often hinder child care development. By working with organizations like McKenna and local zoning boards, municipalities can conduct reviews of existing ordinances and streamline processes to attract child care providers.
Promote targeted child care programs that focus on economically disadvantaged communities, ensuring sustainable long-term economic benefits. Communities benefit greatly from child care programs tailored to support economically disadvantaged areas, as these initiatives provide a pathway to stable workforce engagement and upward mobility. Development professionals and local governments can collaborate to design funding programs and incentives that make high-quality child care more accessible in underserved neighborhoods.
Advocate for increased public investment in child care infrastructure to enhance labor force participation, particularly among women with young children.
Investment in child care infrastructure is a proven strategy for increasing workforce participation, especially among parents, including women with young children.
Shift employer narratives to position child care as a universal workforce issue rather than a “women’s issue.” Positioning child care as a universal workforce concern encourages broader engagement from all sectors. To initiate this shift, development professionals can host workshops or forums that engage employers and demonstrate how child care challenges affect productivity and workforce stability for all.
Collaborate with research organizations to gather localized data on the long-term economic impacts of early learning infrastructure investments.
Data-driven decision-making is essential for crafting effective child care policies. By partnering with research organizations, local governments and development agencies can obtain localized data that captures the unique needs and impacts of child care investments in their communities.
Promote public-private partnerships that scale child care access and reduce barriers for businesses to support their employees with child care options.
Public-private partnerships offer a sustainable path to expanding child care services while sharing the financial responsibilities across sectors. Development professionals can facilitate partnerships between local businesses, municipal governments, and nonprofit organizations to establish child care facilities that benefit the community and support workforce engagement.
