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In New Hampshire, the average price of full-time, center-based childcare for an infant and a four-year-old is nearly $32,000 a year, equivalent to 28% of median family income for Granite State households with children under five.

These data points, likely unsurprising to families and caregivers of young children, are from a new initiative led by 91��Ƭ��’s Carsey School of Public Policy. The aims to inform policy and action toward a more robust early childhood education system in New Hampshire.

With a multi-year grant from the Couch Family Foundation, the Carsey School is conducting new research and coordinating a consortium of researchers and practitioners across the Granite State, including 91��Ƭ��’s . Research shows that the scarcity of affordable childcare for young children is a significant but solvable challenge in New Hampshire and across the country.

“High-quality early childhood education builds the foundation for life-long success,” says , associate professor of human development and family studies and the lead investigator for the Early Childhood Initiative. “The early care and education system is like a three-legged stool supported by access, cost and quality. All three legs must be strong for it to work to truly support children and families.”

“This is a pivotal project that will purposefully bring together the state’s early childhood experts and stakeholders and propel us toward a research agenda that can inform both policy and action for a more robust early childhood education system in the state,” says , research assistant professor.