In February of last year, the People’s Policy Project released its Family Fun Pack, a suite of family benefits that would make parenting easy and affordable for everyone.1 One of the proposals in the Family Fun Pack is to have the federal government grant money to local school districts so that they can provide free public child care and pre-kindergarten to all children below school age.

The Family Fun Pack as displayed on two phones

Popularity

In October of last year, People’s Policy Project commissioned a poll from YouGov to determine the popularity of this proposal. The poll asked 1,004 registered voters the following question:

Would you support or oppose a policy to have the federal government provide grants to local school districts to provide free public child care for all children too young to attend school?
Illustrated baby

YouGov found that the proposal was popular. Overall, 57 percent of Americans support the proposal while only 35 percent oppose it. Among Democrats, the support was overwhelming, with 82 percent in favor of the proposal and only 12 percent against it.

Illustrated baby
Chart 1
Support for Free Public Child Care and Pre-K by Party Affiliation
Oct 2019
  • Support
  • Oppose
Chart 2
Support for Free Public Child Care and Pre-K by Gender
Oct 2019
  • Support
  • Oppose
Chart 3
Support for Free Public Child Care and Pre-K by Race
Oct 2019
  • Support
  • Oppose
Chart 4
Support for Free Public Child Care and Pre-K by Age
Oct 2019
  • Support
  • Oppose
Chart 5
Support for Free Public Child Care and Pre-K by Income
Oct 2019
  • Support
  • Oppose

Cost

Using the Current Population Survey and estimates produced by the Center for American Progress of how much high-quality child care and pre-k would cost if it were properly compensated, I estimate that this proposal would annually cost between 0.5 and 0.9 percent of GDP,2 depending on the precise design and modeling assumptions.

Illustrated baby

This cost estimate can be contrasted with the military budget, which currently costs 3.4 percent of GDP.3

Illustrated baby

If the US fully funded this proposal with cuts to the military, it would still have by far the largest military budget in the world and still exceed its NATO commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on the military. Of course it is not strictly necessary to fund free child care and pre-k through military cuts. It can easily be funded through other mechanisms. But this is an area where progressives should consider making the case that the bloated size of the military budget is preventing us from having good things.

Girl holding puppy