Education-Helping children and youth achieve their potential:
LAUW supports measures that increase access to high quality early care and education opportunities, especially for low-income children and their families. LAUW also supports the maintenance of the Child Care Tax Credit (CTC) and the School Readiness Tax Credit.
LAUW is a founding member of the Ready Louisiana Coalition.
During the first three years of a child’s life, the foundation of cognitive, emotional, social, and physical human development is built – and the brain is 80 percent developed. Early childhood experiences and learning have a lifelong impact on every human being – yet too many working parents cannot to afford to send their children to a quality early care facility.
A lack of affordability presents hard choices for ALICE households, which can lead to risky compromises in the standards of care, health, and learning. According to the ALICE Report for Louisiana, childcare is the largest household expenditure for young families. With 66 percent of Louisiana children under 6 with both parents in the workforce, affordable cost in childcare is a barrier to high quality.
Sustainable investments in our youngest learners help to ensure that more children will enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed in life. For each dollar invested to help children gain access to consistent, high quality, and affordable childcare and early learning, our state can save up to $17 over the long-term.
Sadly, only 46 percent of Louisiana children enter school with the skills needed to succeed, such as the ability to recognize letters, count to 20, express needs, and respond to stories. Young children without these skills, often from minority and low-income households, enter school with a disadvantage and are less likely to stay on track academically in the years to come.
LAUW proudly partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education to administer the third annual Early Childhood Family Satisfaction Survey to hear directly from families about their experiences with early childhood enrollment and program quality in their community. Click here to access the survey results, click here to learn more about how the Louisiana Department of Education defines Kindergarten readiness or click here to search for schools or centers based on what matters most to you.
Join the conversation on social media: #ReadyLouisiana #CTC @launitedways