ECE Essentials
Understanding ECE fundamentals is essential for making sound policy decisions. This page covers the basics every state leader needs to know—what ECE is, why it matters, and who benefits when states get policy right.
What Is Early Care and Education?
Early care and education (ECE) refers to group programs for children from birth until they enter kindergarten, including childcare, pre-K, preschool, and Head Start.
Unlike K–12, the ECE sector is decentralized and diverse. Parents choose among programs that:
Vary greatly in hours of service, individual program design, and funding stream
Are provided in a wide range of locations including private centers, homes, faith-based and community organizations, workplaces, and public schools.
What's the Difference Between Childcare and Early Education?
There isn't one.
People often view childcare and early education as two different things, but this distinction ignores how young children actually develop.
For young children, care and learning are inseparable. Unlike school-age children, young children learn through stable, loving relationships and everyday interactions, experiences, and play — not formal instruction.
Any place where young children spend substantial time shapes their development, whether we call it childcare, preschool, or pre-K. The important question is only whether that place supports or hinders a child's healthy growth.
When state policy treats “childcare” and “early education” as separate systems, it wastes money and confuses families. Smart policy aligns systems around the real needs of children and families, not false bureaucratic distinctions.
Who Should ECE Policy Serve?
Every state must decide how to allocate limited ECE resources — a choice that shapes both who gains access to quality programs and how effectively those resources expand market options:
Universal programs serve all children regardless of family income
Targeted programs focus resources on families who can't afford quality programs without help
This site advocates for targeted support. Why? A targeted approach ensures public dollars go to parents who truly need help, rather than subsidizing those who already have access to good options for their children.
Targeted support opens market access for those currently shut out, without replacing the diverse provider network that already serves families well. This approach costs less while delivering more impact where it matters most — enabling families to become self-sufficient while ensuring their children thrive.
Why Does ECE Matter?
Research has confirmed what every parent knows: Children's earliest years have a profound and lasting impact on the rest of their lives.
The first five years are a period of extraordinary development. In this brief window, children develop the cognitive, social, and emotional foundations that shape their entire future.
What drives this development? The nature of young children's day-to-day, hour-to-hour experiences and interactions with the people and world around them.
And today, this critical development increasingly happens outside the home.
Young Children Haven’t Changed — But Early Childhood Has
American family life has transformed. The rise of dual-income households and single-parent working families means millions of children now spend significant time in ECE programs during their most formative years.
As a result, these programs play an unprecedented role in early development. Their quality matters more than ever — especially for the most disadvantaged children.
Parents remain by far the most influential force in young children's development. Effective ECE policy supports and empowers parents rather than replacing them. But wherever young children spend their days matters. And the fewer resources and less stability a child has at home, the more critical high-quality ECE becomes for that child's development.
Who Cares About ECE?
ECE policy matters to everyone it touches:
Young children — who, for the first time in history, are spending much of their early years in programs instead of at home
Parents — who must work to support their families and desperately want their children to thrive
Businesses — that lose millions when employees miss work or quit because they can't access quality programs for their children
States — that prosper when parents work and contribute to the economy instead of relying on welfare
State leaders who understand these fundamentals can deliver what matters: children ready to learn, parents able to work, and a stronger state economy.
See why state leadership in ECE matters ⟶ Why States Must Lead
