Nationwide – Just days ahead of a historic election, childcare providers, parents, children, and advocates came together for a day of action to demand a 21st century childcare system, establish 2024 as the childcare election, and flex our growing power as not just a movement, but a voting bloc.
Community Change Action’s National Childcare Voter Day of Action featured over 40 events in cities and states across the country that will make the difference this election. From voter registration to phone banking to trunk or treats, each event aimed to reach families, friends, and neighbors within key electoral communities and encourage them to back leaders who champion child care and a care economy. Together, our movement demanded elected leaders support thriving wages for providers, affordable care for families, an inclusive expanded child tax credit, and a system built on racial and gender justice.
“It was incredible to watch the childcare providers we work with every day, a large majority of whom are women of color, step into their power as leaders in their communities and get people excited to vote for child care,” said Community Change Action Senior Organizer Dominique Countee. “We know that when trusted messengers in our communities reach out to potential voters and equip them to make informed choices, like through our childcare scorecard, we will see that impact come Election Day. Our movement is growing, it is consequential to voting outcomes, and it will win the funding our care providers and families deserve.”
Community Change and Community Change Action boast the largest network of parents and providers in the country — we have 71,000 providers and parents in our network, meaning we have unique access to the sentiments of a large voting base and the needs of this section of the electorate.
Care has risen to the top of the ticket this election because we’ve been raising our voices in our communities, organizing providers and parents, and fighting for our future. For decades, our Black, brown, and women-led childcare workforce and parents have been the backbone of our economy and our democracy – and now they’re using their voices at the ballot box to back leaders who prioritize a care economy, and vote out those who don’t put our families and our livelihoods first.
The day closed with a virtual gathering of nearly 100 people coming together to celebrate this collective action and to recognize the childcare movement’s electoral power. Take a look at some of the events our leaders put on for their communities across the country below, and read their stories about what motivated them to take action here. Please reach out if you’d like to interview any of the providers and parents featured.
Georgia
Philadelphia
Austin
Las Vegas
Community Change Action Childcare Voter Day of Action built upon the momentum of Community Change Action’s National Day Without Childcare held in May, where more than 1,300 childcare providers and parents closed their doors or called out of work to demand action on our childcare crisis – one of the biggest showings of childcare organizing in the past 50 years. You can watch our recap video of the day of action here.
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