My love letter / fangirl article with @kashenj.bsky.social about all the hope we see from the heroes in Minnesota. Plus, some Bad Bunny love. As @timothysnyder.bsky.social said: “The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.” bit.ly/4rRpgJe

“The crisis is that people can’t afford #childcare” Thanks Senator Kaine!

Lots of consensus in the Senate HELP committee that we need more dollars for child care to serve more children. #childcareforall

@murray.senate.gov is on fire at the Senate HELP committee. Few better champions for solving the child care crisis #childcareforall

Love this article by @bcrodriguez.bsky.social @19thnews.org So well said @gaylegoldin.bsky.social #care #poweroftogetherness

"Ultimately, having universal childcare as the goal is something that not only serves the families directly who will benefit from it, but it really serves everyone" - @kashenj.bsky.social on the movement towards universal child care in @us.theguardian.com theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

As @kashenj.bsky.social tells @ehaspel.bsky.social in the @us.theguardian.com, “Ultimately, having universal childcare as the goal is something that not only serves the families directly who will benefit from it, but it really serves everyone.”

“In times of rational and primitive fear, hope has to do push-ups out in the parking lot to stay pumped - and it does.” - Anne Lamott

“We literally save empty paper towel rolls for our art projects,” one provider said. “[This] will destabilize our entire budget.”

This week, HHS announced it is freezing funding for child care and other family assistance programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. More than 500,000 children in over 44,000 programs could be impacted, with devastating effects for the economy: go.tcf.org/ChildCareFreeze

Thank you for your leadership @governor.ny.gov @mayor.nyc.gov This is what families want and need! #childcareforall

“This proposal sets New York on a path to ensure parents can afford great child care, early educators are paid fairly for their essential work, and more high quality options will be available and drive down costs.” – @kashenj.bsky.social

As @repstansbury.bsky.social said in today’s Oversight hearing, the admin’s attacks on child care are part of a larger effort to defund social services. These attacks make child care more expensive for families, make children less safe, and make it harder for programs to stay open #FundChildCare

Another great conversation w/@momsrising.org @rowefinkbeiner.bsky.social about why care is central to the economic measurements we currently count (ie. GDP) and the ones we should count (ie. family wellbeing). Read more here by @tcfdotorg.bsky.social and @caringacross.org tcf.org/content/repo...

Today I learned that our beloved child care program in NYC, where my son was nurtured and taught by amazing educators, and made his first friends as a 2&3 yo, closed abruptly at the end of last year. The owner couldn't continue to make the math work. Sometimes the work hits home. #childcareforall

NEW: The average cost of child care is $13,000/year nationwide. Costs are rising in all but five states, and rising faster than inflation in 39 states and Washington, D.C. @lfevalle.bsky.social and @kashenj.bsky.social explore the state of the care economy and its workforce: go.tcf.org/carecrisis

Sending so many good thoughts your way Senator @kim.senate.gov And thank you for seeing how your own experience resonates with so many others, and identifying the pathways out there for supporting caregivers and our loved ones through public policy. #carecantwait

I remember this heartbreaking pain all too well. Alzheimer’s crept into my mother’s brilliant brain when she was only 60. It’s why I will continue to fight for paid leave, because I can’t solve Alzheimer’s but I can fight for policies that make sense for caregivers. #paidleaveforall

Good news for NY: more $$ to build child care capacity. The needs are great. The U.S. has underinvested in child care for so long. It's time to catch up & help all families get ahead. Grateful Governors are stepping up, making strides to help parents find and afford #childcare. @governor.ny.gov

#HeadStart is an effective model for supporting the mental health needs of children and their families because of its multigenerational approach. Rd more about how this program helps address the youth mental health crisis. @haileygibbs.bsky.social www.americanprogress.org/article/head...

I love the work @votemama.bsky.social does every day to elect and protect mom candidates. If your mom made our laws, wouldn't they be better? Help elect more moms by giving to Vote Mama - with a matching gift - this #givingTuesday

When you wonder why school ends at 3pm—we’re dealing with policies and practices from a totally different time. We need to meet the real needs of families and a 21st century economy. #OutOfOfficeForCare in @fortune.com. fortune.com/2025/11/26/t...

“A national campaign is delivering a radically honest wake-up call about childcare, burnout, and what it means to live in a country without paid leave.” #OutOfOfficeForCare in Marie Claire www.marieclaire.com/politics/out...

New Yorkers kept telling me the same thing: they’re thinking of leaving because they can’t afford to raise their kids here. Universal childcare isn’t just a promise — it’s how we make this a city for everyone.

🦃 NEW: Thanksgiving dinner is up 10% this year — more than 3x overall inflation. Families are cutting back or skipping the holiday entirely. Why? Trump’s policies keep driving prices up. Read my latest with @groundwork.bsky.social, @tcfdotorg.bsky.social & @aft.org tcf.org/content/comm...

Perhaps my favorite piece we’ve published so far, where @kashenj.bsky.social and I talk about the ways we are seeing love change our national conversation, and the crucial role of hope in building a better future. open.substack.com/pub/hopeseed...

As we tell the story of Trump’s harmful policies - dismantling the federal government, DEIA, tariffs impacting layoffs & more - we can see some of the impacts. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can make better choices that create good jobs, center Black women & make the economy better for all.

Appreciate #carefest highlighting our new report with @caringacross.org The Care Imperative: Why Investing in Care Grows America tcf.org/content/repo... @lfevalle.bsky.social @jaimieworker.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social

Loved hearing from @rowefinkbeiner.bsky.social and this great panel about caring across the generations (and why she went right to the Census Bureau when she learned firsthand how hard it is to work and care. #carefest #carecantwait

Powerful — we need to do away with the narrative that “caregiving is a solo mission.” Emma Heming Willis As the other phenomenal woman on stage has said, It takes a village. @hillaryclinton.bsky.social #CareFest

CareFest off to an incredibly moving start with its first panel. Love this point: In 2020, when we all had to answer the question "what is essential?", care was the universal answer.

I'm glad that @tcfdotorg.bsky.social and @kashenj.bsky.social continue to figure for investments in the care economy. Check out their latest report: tcf.org/content/repo...

So proud of our new report with @caringacross.org @jaimieworker.bsky.social about the care imperative. Time to make care a national priority. #carecantwait #carefest

TCF senior fellow @kashenj.bsky.social weighs in on @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s vision for child care in New York City.

instead of saying this was good strategy, maybe senate dems should say: "the republicans were going to kill people by starving them to death, and because we aren't monsters, we decided to let this fight go. We'll keep fighting. Stop electing monsters."

Here at Northcenter Town Square where 100-200 community members including families and young children are rallying after a teacher was taken by federal law enforcement from a local daycare this morning.

This video is devastating. Imagine dropping your child off at daycare, only to learn that ICE took a beloved caregiver in front of the children minutes after. Imagine going to work to care for beloved children, only to be ripped away from them and your own family by ICE.

‘I have papers’: Child care worker detained by ICE officers inside a Chicago day care 19thnews.org/2025/11/chil... via @19thnews.org

Now that Zohran Mamdani won, how much of his agenda will he be able to accomplish? Here's my back-of-the-envelope estimation of what he can feasibly achieve and how. Short version: I actually think he can get a lot of it done.

@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov Making sure you saw this - in Chicago

The taking of neighbors in communities around the country is so horrific. And, right here - how can anyone justify this - violently taking a child care teacher out of her classroom? Enraging is too weak a word to describe this. #Momsky activate.

Republicans were already gutting Head Start programs across the country. Now, their shutdown is tearing child care away from even more families. All because they refuse to prioritize anything but tax cuts for billionaires. apnews.com/article/head...

Making AI slop videos and making "your mom" jokes isn't going to lower the cost of child care for millions of parents trying to make ends meet. But free child care would—read more about it from TCF's @kashenj.bsky.social here: tcf.org/content/comm...

After WWII, the U.S. ended universal child care so women would return to caregiving and soldiers could take their jobs. Now there's a new effort to get women out of the workplace. "I am not on board with going backwards,” says @kashenj.bsky.social in @whyy.org interview whyy.org/episodes/wor...

What would the ideal child care infrastructure in America look like? A system that’s affordable, accessible, and builds community. TCF’s @kashenj.bsky.social in conversation with @rowefinkbeiner.bsky.social of @momsrising.org. Full episode ➡️ go.tcf.org/momsrising Julie's latest ➡️ go.tcf.org/ccwfa

Federal pandemica-era investments showed states what is possible when they invest in child care. Now, @kashenj.bsky.social says, states including CT, NM, NY, OR, and VT are working to build out their child care infrastructure. www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

📢 We’re partnering with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and @tcfdotorg.bsky.social for the DC launch of Anna Gifty's (@itsafronomics.bsky.social) new book, “The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid.”

Today, the Census Bureau released new data that show that in 2024, 13.4% of U.S. children under 18—9.7 million children—lived in poverty TCF's Rachel West and Julie Kashen analyze these data and explore policies to end child poverty: go.tcf.org/childpoverty

Join us for an evening with award-winning researcher and writer Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman as she launches her new book, The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid. 📍 MLK Library Auditorium, Washington, DC 📅 Thursday, Sept. 18 | 6 PM 🎟️ Complimentary books + signing to follow

Great job @govmlg.bsky.social and team - continuing to build on #NewMexico's #childcare successes. Free child care in NM that comes with investments in real choices and early educator wages. Leading the way!