EXCERPTS
Watch PBS NewsHour’s primetime documentary “Raising the Future: The Child Care Crisis” on Tuesday, October 12th 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). The special will be hosted by PBS NewsHour’s chief correspondent, Amna Nawaz, and examines how the lack of affordable, quality child care is affecting American families. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed daily life for millions of working parents and pushed the nation’s child care system to the brink of collapse. Out of that turmoil, a heated debate has emerged over what, if anything, can be done to better meet the needs of parents and young children.
In this hour-long special, the PBS NewsHour reveals how shifting societal values, as well as decades of federal policy, have shaped the U.S. child care system into what it is today. It explores the burden costly child care places on low-and middle-income families, takes viewers to cities and states experimenting with new ways of providing childcare for working parents, and delves into the political battle brewing over the idea of federally funded, universal childcare.