For a middle class Long Island family, child care's such a struggle

On a recent afternoon, my husband and I sat at our kitchen table in Huntington, trying to figure out how to make the next month work. The rain was coming through the windows — we've needed to replace them for years, but we can't afford it.

That's because half our income goes to child care for our 3-year-old and 1-year-old twins, more than our mortgage and all our household bills combined. My husband and I both work full time. We're solidly middle class. And still, every time there's a storm, I look at those windows and think: If we're doing everything right, why can't we keep the rain out?

This is the reality for millions of New York families. On Long Island, the average cost of infant care in a child care center is $24,000, and the region has the second-largest gap in access to prekindergarten behind the Hudson Valley.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have announced the launch of a program for free child care for 2-year-olds in New York City in four areas this fall. Hochul plans to make pre-K universal across the state, and test out child care from infants to age 3 in three upstate counties. It's the most ambitious child care planning the state has seen in a generation.

And yet it doesn't go far enough. That's why last week, parents from across the state went to Albany to deliver a message directly to the governor: Fund child care for the long term and expand 3-K statewide.

Currently, there's no plan to raise the revenue to make the program sustainable. The governor's commitment only covers two years. Her proposal also doesn't include 3-K outside New York City. My twins turn 3 in a couple years, and when they do, I have no idea how to make it work. Many Long Islanders are in the same boat.

For a family like mine, universal pre-K would be transformational. My husband and I were both born and raised on Long Island, and we're committed to our community and raising our family here. We love our child care center and wouldn't want our kids to be anywhere else.

But it's getting harder every year. If my kids had access to free, full-day pre-K, our financial calculus would fundamentally change. We could fix our windows. We could go out to dinner as a family. We could finally set aside real savings for college and retirement.

I know how high taxes are on Long Island. But the burden is falling on the wrong families. The wealthiest New Yorkers pay a lower effective tax rate than middle class families like mine, thanks to loopholes and carveouts. Last year, New York's millionaires got another round of tax breaks from Washington.

There are straightforward ways to close those loopholes and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share — such as by taxing capital gains at the same rate as income, which could raise more than $12 billion. That revenue would essentially cover the cost of universal child care for every family in the state (once a system is at full scale).

Parenthood simply should not be this hard. New York has a responsibility to make this stage of life — already exhausting in the best of circumstances — manageable and even joyful, rather than a daily financial nightmare.

The governor has taken a real step forward. Now we need to finish the job.

This guest essay reflects the views of Genna Tudda, of Huntington, a member of New Yorkers United for Child Care.