Fantastic piece from @annielowrey.bsky.social that gets at the many real challenges that arise from actually implementing a universal childcare system - but not letting that stop us from trying. A 🧵: (1)

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.

ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections

Excited that my new book review came out at the same time as Corrine Low's essay on what the medical professions can teach us about how to organize jobs to be family friendly. There's a lot to be learned by looking at how women organize work when they have numbers. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/o...

Today, New Mexico launched its universal childcare initiative. Last month I wrote about it for Roosevelt Institute -- historic state endeavors like this should show lawmakers at all levels of government that Americans are sick and tired of waiting for bold action on childcare. shorturl.at/Sm2tZ

Our vision for the #GoodLife includes ensuring disabled Americans and their experiences are an integral part of economic policy. Our partnership to co-launch the Disability Economic Policy Research Consortium is a part of this commitment. Learn more 👇 https://bit.ly/4q0NDDZ

When a few corporations can decide what news or voices reach the public, democracy shrinks. This isn’t just about competition; it’s about who sets the terms of public debate. People or authoritarians? We need stronger rules, restored ownership limits, and a renewed commitment to the people’s voice.

Yesterday, a late-night show vanished with a simple directive from 2 of the largest media companies you’ve never heard of (Nexstar & Sinclair), backed by the FCC. That’s not “the market at work.” It’s concentrated corporate power cooperating with an authoritarian. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...

New Mexico is making history: the first state to guarantee no-cost universal childcare. 💡 A bold step toward affordability that shows what’s possible when leaders prioritize families. @lbilik.bsky.social on why federal lawmakers should take note. rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/new-mex...

Spoke to @usatoday.com about New Mexico's recent move that shows that government CAN actually deliver what families want and need: in this case, universal free childcare. shorturl.at/8KAa9

New Mexico's economy is a fraction of the size of New York City's. If they can enact universal childcare — and relieve working families of a crushing cost burden — surely we can too. It's just a question of political will.

Exciting news from New Mexico, proving that states continue to innovate in the face of the federal government's decades of inaction on childcare. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't nationwide demand for childcare as a public good. shorturl.at/tTENi

This people-centered approach is the foundation for a new economic vision: one that reins in corporate power, strengthens worker agency, and secures economic dignity for all. It’s how we build trust, defeat authoritarianism, and deliver the #GoodLife Americans deserve.

Working people still have faith in the labor movement because working people ARE the labor movement. Most recent data shows that HALF of Congress are millionaires. If we're ever going to rebuild trust in government again, one thing we need is more regular people in positions of power.

"Childcare undergirds everything we care about as Americans." - Great conversation between @lbilik.bsky.social and @ehaspel.bsky.social in today's Fireside Stacks. www.firesidestacks.com/p/raising-a-...

Childcare holds families, communities, and our economy together. In the latest #FiresideStacks 🔥, @lbilik.bsky.social sat down with @ehaspel.bsky.social, who makes a compelling case for universal childcare as a central tenet of the American Dream. www.firesidestacks.com/p/raising-a-...

Communities have been winning incredible state-level funding for childcare - but this is a reminder that the fight isn't over. We have to protect these wins AND go even further -- from an inequitable patchwork of state policies, to a national universal childcare system. tinyurl.com/bdz4cyd5

Childcare shouldn’t be a luxury. @lbilik.bsky.social‬ spoke with ‪@publicnewsservice.bsky.social‬ about the need for federal investments to build a universal childcare system that works for families and the workforce. app.publicnewsservice.org/sto...?

Struggling to find or afford childcare is a common experience for many American workers. The patchwork of market options has failed. @lbilik.bsky.social talks with @publicnewsservice.bsky.social about a "public option" for MN families and beyond. app.publicnewsservice.org/story/can-pu...?

Thankful as usual that @warren.senate.gov always calls it like it is. As I laid out in more detail last week in a @rooseveltinstitute.org blog - Handouts to a few billionaires does NOT improve the economy. But you know what does? Investing in kids. shorturl.at/GgEOY

Absolutely disgusting recent move by HHS to make Head Start for "American citizens" only. Not only a devastating loss to undocumented families, it will have a chilling effect on immigrant families in general who need the program, as well as low-income families without gov IDs. shorturl.at/4leTI

Really proud of this! I wrote a proposal for the @rooseveltinstitute.org about how to design a universal system for child care, after school, and summer. In my latest newsletter, I talk about what it would look like, how it would work, and the potential it holds. open.substack.com/pub/kedsecon...

Over the last year, Roosevelt had the invaluable opportunity to speak with parents, childcare providers, and grassroots organizers to help us vision what a truly public, universal childcare system could look like, w/ partners at Community Change & @economicsecurityproject.org. Check out our report:

New in @msnbc.com from me & @suzmkahn.bsky.social: Don't let the messaging fool you: a few tax credits (that don't even reach the poorest families) will never solve the childcare crisis. Americans need and deserve historic investment in public universal childcare, and we should demand nothing less.

Happening next week! 📆 Join us for a conversation with four incredible experts & @kim.senate.gov to envision an affordable, high-quality, public childcare system. It’s time to reimagine childcare as public infrastructure—RSVP now! rooseveltinstitute.org/event/from-c...

The GOP budget bill is anti-kid, not "pro-family." Cuts to Medicaid & SNAP strip health care & food from millions of kids to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. @lbilik.bsky.social explains why we must invest in kids, not billionaires. ⬇️ rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/us-poli...

New from me -- We must loudly call the Republican budget bill what it is: anti-children and anti-family. If lawmakers want to be “pro-family,” they should start by acknowledging that our government should be in the business of investing in children. rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/us-poli...

Today in unsurprising survey data: Most Americans aren't concerned about how many kids other people are having. They're worried about how hard it is to care for the kids they already have. shorturl.at/xOWvK

12 million+ off their healthcare Rural hospitals closing Kids going hungry More ICE chaos in our neighborhoods The largest transfer of wealth from everyday people to the ultra-rich in history This is that big ugly, ugly bill. It may pass CALL CONGRESS, SAY NO: 888-924-6518

The idea that a person has to be employed in wage labor to have sufficient value to society for us to guarantee them food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education is evil. If you're a human being in the United States, you are OWED food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education. Full stop.

AOC: "On this point of tax on tips, as one of the only people in this body who has lived off of tips, I want to tell you a little bit about the scam ... the cap on that is $25,000 while you're jacking up taxes on people who make less than $50,000 across the US ... while kicking them off the ACA."

👏 Roosevelters are bringing bold ideas to Looking Back, Moving Forward, a new series from @msmagazine.com. 🎙️ Tune in to coming episodes for insights from Senior Fellow @lenorepalladino.bsky.social and others leading the fight for gender and economic justice. msmagazine.com/2025/06/27/l...

I spent the first 8 years of my career trying to convince elected officials to care about children. I wish I could tell you it was an easy sell. It wasn't. It's hard to imagine US public policy being even LESS pro-kids than it already is, but OBBB truly will make things worse. shorturl.at/77c0m

There's a lot to be said about identity, solidarity. But a simple place to start: the people who are willing to fight for their neighbors when their neighbors have different problems have a very, very good chance of having neighbors to fight with when you all share problems

Most of us probably know intuitively that private equity & investor-backed chains should have no place in the care & education of young children. Grateful for this excellent brief from @ehaspel.bsky.social that gets into the weeds of WHY & HOW we should guard against corporate capture of childcare.

Wrote about why the Left should socialize a bold childcare vision, for @rooseveltforward.org. Let's not capitulate early childhood to rightwing forces pushing a bleak vision of gender regressive policies & deregulated programs. It's time to ask for what we need: public, universal childcare for all.

GOP politicians don't care if people are in poverty, and they actually want some people trapped in poverty. Because poverty makes it easier to exploit people's labor for profit and easier to use people as scapegoats that others can blame for the precarity they feel without a decent safety net.

Early childhood education is a labor issue: Pay for providers is low, & burnout is high. We need early educators desperately so that families can work. AND we will never be able to achieve necessary expansions of childcare w/out ensuring the workforce gets the pay & working conditions they deserve.

It's so exciting to see this kind of big, bold thinking on care. Our care system is broken - we can't afford to tinker around the edges anymore. As dark as it all is right now, it's vital to keep imagining out loud what we REALLY need to make our economy work for everyone, & help families thrive.

As Congress debates no tax on tips, important to recognize just how unserious an effort to help working people it is. Raising the federal minimum wage would deliver nearly 18x as much income to workers. www.epi.org/blog/increas...

We keep treating the childcare crisis like something that will go away if we ignore it. It’s quite the opposite: if we want a strong economy, we need affordable, public child care. It was true pre-pandemic, & even more true now. Let’s talk about it as much as we talk about egg prices. A 🧵:

📄 NEW: ~20M Americans have "significant" medical debt. This isn’t inevitable, it’s the result of policy choices. A decade of gaps in Medicaid & market failures have crushed mobility for millions. @socio-steve.bsky.social explores actions that can address it: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

NEW: Millions of families are being failed by a care system that’s unaffordable, inaccessible, and inequitable. In a new report, @indivar.bsky.social makes the case for public investment—not tax gimmicks—to meet real care needs. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

While Congress protects tax cuts for the rich, care workers are underpaid, families are stretched thin, & kids are left behind. Noa Rosinplotz spoke with @indivar.bsky.social, who makes the case for direct investment in care—not tax gimmicks. rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/to-buil...

Before Social Security, roughly half of all elderly Americans were living in poverty, relying on family and charity to survive. And that's almost certainly where we're headed, especially if the stock market tanks everyone's 401Ks.

The arguments over tax policy right now boil down to this: Republicans want lower taxes for millionaires, billionaires, and giant corporations—and higher costs for working people. Democrats say the rich should pay a fair share so we can invest in opportunity for all.

If you are like me, you are watching the cuts at the Social Security Administration with trepidation. Join the National Academy of Social Insurance's webinar on what's at stake this Thursday. Featuring @kathleenromig.bsky.social @martinomalley.bsky.social and more. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

When will we learn? Caring for people is not only a moral imperative of a functioning society: caring for people is good for the economy, and treating people and their health/wellbeing as disposable is bad for the economy. It really is that simple.

A 100-day agenda should be judged by what it builds—not what it destroys. A truly bold agenda would expand economic security, agency, and power for workers.