MASSACHUSETTS’ CHILD CARE system serving the state’s most vulnerable children has seen improvement in recent years, but a new report warns that issues with recruiting and keeping workers could undermine efforts to expand access to affordable child care. With federal support from a second Trump administration uncertain, funding these programs increasingly depends on Bay State budget math.

“Lifting up the early education workforce is the next critical area of need,” the report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation asserts. “The early education workforce is overwhelmingly composed of women (92 percent) and nearly half are people of color (41 percent). The workforce also represents thousands of small businesses in the state; their success is critical to Massachusetts’ economic success.”