PSI Unions Study New York City's Universal Childcare Strategy led by Mayor Mamdani

The conversation focused on the progress being made toward universal childcare in New York City under the leadership of Zohran Mamdani. Participants highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges facing the system.

Currently, childcare workers in New York City are overwhelmingly women (96 per cent), while 82 per cent are non-white and about 60 per cent are Latino. This underscores the importance of living wages in a traditionally underpaid, feminised and racialised workforce.

City officials noted that New York already invests roughly $3 billion annually in childcare services. To achieve the city’s vision of universal childcare—where every child under five has access to free care from an educator receiving a living wage—New York City will need an additional 37,500 childcare workers.

The city is the only jurisdiction in New York State currently offering universal 3-K and is working to expand access to younger children through future 2-K programmes.

Over the next two years, public funding will be distributed through schools, community centres and licensed home providers that meet health and safety standards, with major expansion planned outside the public school system.

City officials, labour and community leaders emphasised that sustaining and expanding universal childcare will require long-term public investment and a renewed commitment to ensuring that the wealthiest New Yorkers pay their fair share in taxes to support the public services families rely on.