Ensure Parents Have Real Options

The Challenge

Even purchasing power doesn’t help parents if there are no quality options. For too many lower-income families, choice exists in name only.

In many communities, quality programs are scarce or unavailable. That means parents miss work, cut hours, or rely on arrangements that don’t support their children’s development.

Bureaucratic hurdles and low subsidy rates discourage programs from serving lower-income families. And when public funds flow to programs instead of parents, government — not families — decides what’s best for young children.

Top-down solutions shrink options further, pushing families toward one-size-fits-all systems that eliminate the options parents want.

The Strategy for States

Expand the supply of quality ECE programs by fueling demand. When parents bring purchasing power to the market, quality options grow to meet them.

States can build a stronger market by:

  • Strengthening the mixed-delivery system so families can choose among a broad range of programs

  • Boosting the home-based options many parents prefer

  • Cutting red tape that keeps quality programs from serving lower-income families

  • Prioritizing parent choice by directing funds to families rather than programs

The goal: Ensure market diversity so parents can select good programs that reflect their values and meet their children’s needs.

Why This Works

As more families gain purchasing power, ECE programs enter the market to serve them. By empowering parents, states can expand the ECE market and increase quality — through competition, not compliance.

  • Public funds follow families — not bureaucrats’ preferences

  • Markets grow where families need them most

  • Children benefit from more high-quality options in every community

  • Programs succeed when families choose them — not when government props them up

The result: Expanding quality supply through parent demand strengthens parent choice, raises quality, and ensures that markets deliver better outcomes without government takeover.

Next strategy for this goal ⟶ Help Parents Make Informed Choices