Between 2014 and 2024, Connecticut’s Care 4 Kids program saw enrollment increase 15%, despite volatility from year to year. But the program’s waitlist grew from late 2024 to 2025 to more than 3,000 children. (Adobe Stock)
A new report found Connecticut has improved its early childhood education system but argued more must be done.
The 2025 State of Early Childhood report showed a system in flux to align with evolving guidelines, although it pointed out the changes have not always been positive for families and kids. While the number of child care openings for preschoolers, infants and toddlers grew between 2014 and 2024, they hit historic lows post-pandemic.
Emily Knox, research and policy director of Connecticut Voices for Children, said early child care should be considered part of the state’s essential infrastructure but so far, it is not.
“Families are often left to piece together care on their own, navigating a fragmented and unreliable system,” Knox pointed out. “That’s meant that the people who make the system work, child care providers – who are overwhelmingly women, and disproportionately women of color – have been subsidizing the system with their own low wages.”
She added the instability from chronic underfunding affects everyone, since it led to a loss of more than 660 child care providers in the last decade, and child care wages are lower than for most workers in the state.
The latest United Way ALICE report showed child care providers do not earn enough to afford everyday essentials in Connecticut, like most jobs in the state.
The report noted Connecticut made progress on some early child care issues in this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers created an early childhood education endowment and increased the number of slots offered for kids.
Ruchi Sheth, research and policy associate at Connecticut Voices for Children, said the endowment will benefit child care providers.
“For providers, this funding will help increase provider pay, offer a health insurance subsidy and increase funds for workforce development and training to ensure a robust and well-trained ECE workforce,” Sheth outlined.
Starting in 2028, child care will be free for Connecticut families earning under $100,000 per year. Those who earn more will have their family fees capped at 7% of their income.
Sheth warned now is not the time for complacency. The report said continuing to fund the endowment and indexing the Connecticut Personal Income Tax to inflation, are among steps to be taken to help maintain a robust early child care sector.