access depends on qualifying and successfully navigating the application process. Providers are also generally reimbursed less per child via vouchers than through Pre-K and 3-K. The City should build on the features of existing programs that match families’ need for greater choice and flexibility, while making those features more broadly available. g Explore more flexible 2-K and 3-K options, including extended-day, part-time, evening, and weekend care. The City has already taken a step in this direction by offering extended-day 2-K. It should build on that approach by testing more flexible contracted models, including part-time slots and evening or week- end care. These options could open free or subsidized child care to more families whose need for care does not match the traditional weekday schedule, particularly lower-income families working non-tra- ditional hours, while also generating new revenue for providers and increasing access to licensed care for those who want to enroll. Finding ways for those families who only need part-time care to “share” a seat would also reduce costs on a per-child basis. Adopting different offerings within the contracted model presents fiscal and operational challenges, but the benefits merit consideration. More broadly, the City should examine how its funding, contract- ing, and enrollment rules can give providers greater flexibility to respond to family demand. For ex- ample, providers could have more discretion to adjust the mix of full- and part-time care they offer, or to use funded capacity across schedules and age groups when demand differs from the original allocation of seats.
g Support informal care arrangements within a universal system.
Many parents prefer care from a parent, relative, or other trusted individual until their children are two. Alongside efforts to build greater trust in formal, licensed options for the youngest children, the City should also consider how best to support access to these more individualized, informal arrangements for those parents who want them — as well as what role such caregivers should play within a public- ly-funded universal system. Informal care will not work for all families: not all parents can afford to reduce their work hours or leave the workforce to care for their children, and many parents who would prefer care from a relative do not have someone available to provide it. Grandparents and other relatives may be working themselves or may not live close enough to provide regular care. Still, beyond parental leave, policymakers should look for ways to make these arrangements more feasible for families who prefer them. Some relatives, friends, and neighbors who provide child care can already receive public subsidies by enrolling as legally exempt providers and caring for voucher-eligible children. The City and State could examine whether existing subsidy pathways or other forms of direct financial support could be expanded or adapted to better support families who prefer parental or other informal care arrangements.
THE 2026 NEW YORK CITY PARENT SURVEY : WHAT CHILD CARE PARENTS WANT 32
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