Childcare is a key issue in NYC's mayoral race. Advocates in California are taking note

New York City's contentious mayoral race has gained international attention after 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani toppled political heavyweight Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary last month.

That race — and the general election to come — focused on several familiar campaign issues, including affordability, housing, public safety and transit.

But one key topic stood out to many observers: child care.

Access to affordable child care was a regular talking point throughout the campaign, unlike past races in New York and across the country. Child care advocates in New York and California told LAist this signaled a change in political discourse, and that Los Angeles should take note.

" I don't recall seeing a mayor's race where universal child care played such a major role," said Margaret Brodkin, the founder of Funding the Next Generation, an organization that supports ballot measures to fund child care programs across California.

"I think there is political momentum to recognizing the importance of child care in making life affordable for families in cities and all over the country," she added.

Mamdani has promised free care for all children ages 6 weeks to 5 years and a baby basket for each New Yorker that would include an assortment of free items like diapers and baby wipes.

Mary Ignatius, the executive director of California group Parent Voices, said she was inspired by his campaign and its simple messaging.

" It was unapologetic," she said. "There was no need to go into details or a 10-point policy plan. It was just putting out a vision of what working families need to create equitable access to a life of dignity and joy and happiness that we all deserve."

How child care gained political momentum in NYC

Leading up to the primary in New York, candidates offered voters their version of a better future in which families facing sky-high costs could afford to take care of their young children.

A new nonprofit, New Yorkers United for Child Care, gained such prominence during the race that mayoral candidate Brad Lander pointed to its success on election night.

"The winner of this campaign months ago was New Yorkers United for Child Care," Lander said from Mamdani's victory party.

Allison Lew, a community organizer with that group, said it formed less than two years ago in part in response to New York Mayor Eric Adams cutting programs like 3-K, New York City's free preschool program for 3-year-olds.

Since then, she said, the organization has gained 6,000 members, including parents and parents-to-be. The group has led rallies at City Hall and distributed petitions for universal child care at playgrounds.

" There's no faster way to radicalize a parent than take away their access to child care that they can afford," she said.

Last week, Adams made a deal with the City Council to expand investments in child care and afterschool programs after initially threatening to cut back on some programs, according to local news reports. That includes $10 million for free child care for children 2 years old and younger. In April, Adams announced funding for an "After School For All" plan to expand afterschool programs.

Political efforts in California

The issue of child care has also gained political momentum in California, where recent ballot measures to raise local taxes or allocate a portion of the city budget to fund child care have been successful locally in Pomona and throughout Sonoma County. In San Francisco, early educators recently received substantial pay bumps because of a new commercial property tax.

Mary Ignatius with Parent Voices said the election in New York makes her hopeful that more California lawmakers will take up child care as an issue.

"It would be a lot easier if our lawmakers would invest," she said. "[because], you know, we can go county by county, but that's also going to leave out a lot of people."

Statewide, universal transitional kindergarten — which allows children to start a free two-year kindergarten program at age 4 — kicks in this fall. But overall, access to care for young children is still far below what's needed. As of 2023, fewer than half the number of children in California under 5 had regular child care, according to UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research.

Many child care advocates said reforming the system takes time, not just political momentum.

Marcy Whitebook, the founder of Berkeley's Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, noted that New York City already is building off of a long history of investment in child care programs like public preschool.

" I'm glad there's is this attention, it's long, long, long overdue in my opinion. But it's a political issue," she said. "So whether or not it rises to the point where people are really willing to make an investment and sustain that investment…it's got to be something you keep really pushing for."