In Nebraska, 72% of children under the age of 6 live in homes where all adults work. The brain is developing more rapidly from birth through age 8 than at any other time in life.

Healthy, trusting, and consistent relationships with caregivers throughout the first eight years of life have a profound impact on young children’s long-term success. While parents are children’s first teachers, most young children are not with their parents for many hours of the day.

In overwhelming numbers, residents say that quality early care and education is not available or affordable for all families in Nebraska.

Ninety-one percent of counties in Nebraska do not have enough available licensed child care slots to meet the current demand, and 11 counties in Nebraska have no licensed child care facilities. Few Nebraskans (11%) strongly agree that quality early care and education is available to every family in the state. Even fewer (6%) strongly believe it is affordable.

The early childhood workforce is the cornerstone of quality early care and education, yet all too often, early childhood professionals are undervalued and underpaid.

Nearly half of Nebraskans (48%) believe that teachers and caregivers are paid too little. The median annual pay for center-based teachers in Nebraska is $18,706, which is nearly $1,400 below the federal poverty line for a family of three and nearly $7,800 below the poverty line for a family of four. In the early days of COVID-19, 1 in 4 providers saw their income reduced by over 50%.

The vast majority of Nebraskans express support for early care and education.

Eighty-eight percent of Nebraskan voters support the state investing in ensuring more working families have access to affordable, quality child care and early learning. Additionally, 84% of Nebraska voters say that Nebraska should support child care and early learning like it does K-12 schools and higher education.

Ensuring all families and children have equitable access to affordable quality care is key not only to the healthy growth and development of Nebraska’s children but also to the economic vitality and prosperity of the state.

Nebraska’s lack of sufficient child care is a burden on working parents, employers, and state revenues, resulting in nearly $745 million annually in direct losses. Quality birth-to-age five early childhood programs for disadvantaged children yield a 13% return on investment per child, per year through better education, economic, health, and social outcomes.