A few years ago, a colleague and I traveled down from New York to Washington, DC to talk to our elected officials about the critical need for child care facilities in our state. Our advocacy efforts were part of the work of National Children's Facilities Network (NCFN), a coalition of nonprofit financial and technical assistance intermediaries involved in planning, developing, and financing facilities for low-income child care and Head Start programs. Dave and I hoped to show them how investing in a federal child care facilities fund would positively impact the economy.

According to a report prepared by Cornell University, Investing in New York: An Economic Analysis of the Early Care and Education Sector, child care is vital to the economic success of New York state. It directly generates 22,000 small businesses, employs 119,000 people (more people than the hotel and lodging industry), and generates $4.7 billion in revenue. By allowing over 750,000 parents to be part of the workforce, its indirect impact on the economy is enormous. Yet as a field, it receives far less in public investments than other business with equal or smaller impact, stymieing its full potential as an economic engine.

At the same time, study after study has shown how quality early childhood education generates further economic benefits by preparing children for school. The

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reports that every $1 of public funding invested in early childhood education programs results as much as $17 in later taxpayer savings from reductions in special education, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, unemployment, and other social ills. These programs need to be housed somewhere, however, and in places with high cost real estate markets like New York City, there is a crucial lack of affordable spaces that can help young children develop into successful adults.

Armed with this information, Dave and I arrived at Sen. Hillary Clinton's office. Although she is often lauded for her work on behalf of children, we knew that we had no chance of meeting with her. As advocates, our job was to get the information to someone in the office who could process it and see how it fit into the Senator's agenda. However, we were surprised to discover that in order to speak to her eager young staff member about the need for more public investment in spaces for kids, we would be forced to remain in the office reception area; they didn't have a quiet room to spare for us that day.

While we discussed our issue with Sen. Clinton's staffer, the office buzzed with activity. A national restaurant owner's association organized its annual lobby day that day, and a large contingent of New York restauranteurs barged in for their meeting and photo op with the senator. Their materials loudly denounced any changes to the minimum wage for restaurant workers. Because tips in theory comprise a large portion of a restaurant server's salary, the minimum wage for them is significantly lower than the regular minimum wage, which itself hardly enough to support a family. As the staffer sat with us, trying to hear us above the bin of excited lobbyists, the restauranteurs were shepherded into a large comfy conference room. The door closed before I could get a glimpse of Sen. Clinton.

Our meeting went well. The staffer promised us she would pass our information along, and we departed. Before leaving for New York, Dave and I headed to a restaurant for a quick bite. When it came time to leave the waitress a tip, we looked at each other. If NCFN's work is successful, more waitresses' children will have great places to play, learn, and grow while their moms (and dads) are at work. Until then, we can help by digging extra deep into our pockets when it comes time to leave a tip.

For more information, see:

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis - contains numerous economic studies from Minneapolis, as well as other branches of the Federal Reserve, pointing to the enormous monetary benefits of investing in early childhood education

National Children's Facilities Network (NCFN)

National Women's Law Center