As Mayor Mamdani launches universal childcare for 2-year-olds, with the ultimate goal of free care for all young children, what do New York City parents want for their toddlers and even infants?
The answer may not always be a formal daycare program, and seems to vary by geography, race and income, according to a new survey released Thursday, funded by Robin Hood, an anti-poverty organization in the city, with the help of the progressive think tank New America.
The percentage of families who want formal childcare at age 2 ranges from less than one-third of parents in East New York (School District 19) to just short of two-thirds of parents in Park Slope (School District 15), analysts found. Still, the vast majority of parents said they would at least be open to daycare if it were free.
The results suggest that as 2-K expands citywide over the next few years, demand for seats could be “uneven” across local school districts.
“We know that if we’re going to build a childcare system that actually works for families, we need to understand what families actually need and want from that system,” Richard Buery, the chief executive officer of Robin Hood, told reporters during a Wednesday briefing.
If the potential challenge sounds familiar, it’s because similar imbalances have plagued the city’s universal preschool programs for years. While parents in some of the city’s poshest nabes clamored for the first pre-K and 3-K seats, leading to long waitlists the Mamdani administration has started to address, seats in some parts of the outer boroughs remained empty, even if working parents stood to benefit.
Overall, 39% of parents said they have less childcare than they require, with higher rates of unmet need among women: 46% of moms, compared to 30% of dads.
Mamdani first announced the universal childcare parent survey in March, and top administration officials have said the data will continue to inform future expansions.
“These findings affirm both the scale of the work ahead and the direction we are taking: expanding 2-K and 3-K, helping families get the care they need, and building a system that works for every family, not just those who can afford it,” Mamdani said in a statement.
2-K launched last month with slightly more than 2,000 children, with nearly three applications for every seat and families continuing to add themselves to waitlists. With more funding from Gov. Hochul, the program is expected to scale up to 12,000 2-year-olds in less than one year from now.
The roughly 50-question survey ran between March 31 and April 20 and was filled out by 4,306 parents of children ages 5 and under in all school districts across the city. The poll was sent by a postcard mail campaign and online in English and Spanish.
In 13 of the city’s school districts, the majority of parents of 2-year-olds would prefer formal childcare in a school, center or residential setting with a small group of children.
“You can see it’s primarily in neighborhoods closer to the center of the city, several higher-income neighborhoods that favor formal childcare settings at age 2, with lower demand in the Bronx and parts of Queens,” said Tara Dawson McGuinness, the founder and executive director of the New Practice Lab at New America.
The calculus may change as a child gets older: Close to seven in 10 parents of 3-year-olds prefer some version of formal childcare. For kids under 1-year-old, most families want longer parental leave to care for their own babies.
“Preferences, even in the same family, shift depending on the age of their child,” McGuinness said.
The survey also asked parents of young children from newborns to age 5 about informal care, such as having a family member look after a young child.
According to the results, 40% of Hispanic parents rely on care provided by another relative. “Relative care” is also common in the Bronx (40%) and Staten Island (44%). The use of childcare centers is more popular among white parents (32%) and Brooklyn families (30%).
Low-income families are more likely to rely on care by a family member. Meanwhile, “higher income” parents, defined as earning more than 85% of the state’s median income or an annual salary of $116,500 for a family of four, are more likely to use childcare centers.
New York City parents who pay for childcare spend an average of nearly $20,000 per child each year, or up to $29,000 for children under 1 year old.
Researchers could not explain the results, and whether some of the trends were driven more by individual preferences or economic realities and work schedules.
“We don’t know know the ‘why,’” said Alyson Silkowski, senior policy adviser at the New Practice Lab. “There can be mistrust. It could be lack of awareness … Pockets of the city where there seems to be less interest are also some of the areas of the city that have historically just had fewer licensed centers.”
According to the survey, 40% of parents are using care during “non-traditional hours,” such as weekday evenings or the weekend, when many formal daycares are closed.
McGuinness, also of the New Practice Lab, said policymakers must demonstrate to working parents that childcare is “for you” — offered in their languages and neighborhoods, and during flexible hours, including night shifts.
“Sometimes we have to build it,” McGuinness said, “in order for people to be able to imagine it.”