Robin Hood and New America Announce Results of Universal Child Care Parent Survey

New York – Today, Robin Hood and New America announced the public release of the 2026 New York City Parent Survey results, following a first-of-its-kind effort to give families a direct role in shaping the future of universal child care.

Launched this spring and completed by 4,306 NYC parents, the survey — and the input provided by families — is playing a critical role in program design and outreach as Mayor Mamdani takes historic first steps toward delivering universal child care across the city. Survey data underscore the need for greater access to care in parents’ preferred settings and expanded hours. 

“As we deliver the truly universal child care system New York City families need and deserve, the voices of parents must be our north star,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. “Families have made it clear that child care is a priority. These findings affirm both the scale of the work ahead and the direction we are taking: expanding 2-K and 3-K, helping families get the care they need, and building a system that works for every family, not just those who can afford it.” 

 The 2026 NYC Parent Survey is a project of the New Practice Lab at New America and is funded by Robin Hood, which jointly released a report today summarizing the results. All anonymized data is now publicly available. Survey sampling and data collection were led by ​NORC at the University of Chicago​, a nonpartisan research organization. 

“As we expand child care across New York City, parents have been our most important partners in understanding what families need and what a truly universal system must look like,” said Emmy Liss, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. “These findings reinforce the urgency of investing in universal child care while recognizing that families need different kinds of care at different points in their lives. We are grateful to the thousands of parents who participated and to the New Practice Lab at New America and Robin Hood for helping us ensure that families’ experiences are at the center of this work.”  

“Every step we take towards universal child care must be taken in partnership with our families and parents,” said Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels. “The results of the parent survey will confirm some of what we already know but it will also help us identify underlying needs and even wants that will strengthen our understanding and build programs that fit every family across the city.” 

Specific findings include:

• Parents use many types of child care, and care is a 24/7 issue. Forty percent of parents are using care during “nontraditional” hours – weekday evenings and nights, or on weekends.
• Nearly half of NYC parents with young children don’t have the type of care they want. Overall, 39 percent of parents say they have less child care than they need. 
• The demand for formal child care – in a licensed setting such as a child care center, home-based program, or school – varies widely by age and NYC neighborhood. Still, a combined 92% of parents want formal child care at some point before their child turns four, or would be open to it if it were free.
• Awareness of existing public programs, including 3-K, Pre-K, and child care vouchers, differs across income, race/ethnicity, and language.
• Most NYC parents want longer parental leave than they had: five to six months on average, compared to the three or fewer most took.
• NYC parents paying for child care are spending nearly $20,000 a year on average – up to $29,000 among parents whose youngest child is under one.
• Parents say addressing cost and flexibility in child care options would make the biggest difference to their families.

“Universal child care works best when it’s built around what parents actually need. For too many New York families, whether a parent can work, take a shift, or hold down a job depends on having reliable child care. The findings from this first-of-its-kind survey give the city a roadmap for success. We are proud to help make sure parents’ voices are driving this work,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., CEO of Robin Hood.  

“Listening to families in NYC, we heard many need more child care. We also heard there’s no one-size-fits-all solution,” said Tara Dawson McGuinness, Executive Director and Founder of the New Practice Lab at New America. “Families’ needs change as children grow from infants to toddlers. Government supports must meet families where they are and follow their lead. We are grateful for this opportunity to help shape how NYC builds universal child care and hope this can serve as a model for what it looks like to deliver for parents with young children.”

About Robin Hood
Robin Hood is NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, has invested $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2025, through $140 million in grantmaking to 295 community partners, Robin Hood created pathways to opportunity through strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. Robin Hood is scaling impact at a population level for the more than two million New Yorkers living in poverty. Robin Hood believes your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or visit robinhood.org.

About the New Practice Lab
The New Practice Lab is a team of designers, social scientists, policy experts, and technologists building tighter links between policymakers and the families they serve. Part policy research group, part technology product developers, part pro bono consultancy, the New Practice Lab works alongside government partners across the country to build and improve policies, public service delivery systems, and technologies to better support families with young children. The New Practice Lab’s work to date has supported more than 2.8 million Americans. New Practice Lab is a project of New America. Learn more at: newamerica.org/new-practice-lab.