Governor Hochul today announced an unprecedented investment as the next step to deliver affordable, universal childcare for children under five years of age across New York State. The Governor will partner with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to deliver freeย child careย for two-year-olds in New York City, in addition to strengthening the existing 3K program to achieve universal careย and ultimately, serveย all families across the city.
In 2026, the state will continue to expand access to high-qualityย child careย programs throughout the state, through a diversity of models, saving New York families billions of dollars each year. Since taking office, Governor Hochul has already taken major steps to expand access to affordableย child careย for families through anย $8 billionย dollar investment in the stateโsย child careย infrastructure, dramatically expanding access, as part of laying the groundwork for the implementation of universalย child careย statewide.
โThereโs one thing that every family in New York can agree on, theย cost of childcare is simply too high,โย Governor Hochul said.ย โAs New Yorkโs first mom Governor, fighting for New Yorkโs families has always been at the core of my agenda. Since taking office,ย Iโveย put families front and center, fighting to make our state more affordable andย layingย the groundwork to deliver universal childcare. Today,ย Iโmย proud to partner with Mayor Mamdani and leaders across our state to make this a reality, turning that foundation into a concrete roadmap that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state.โ
โOver the past 14 months, a movement was born to fight for a city where every New Yorker could afford a life ofย dignityย and every family could afford to raise their kids. Today, Governor Hochul and Iย meetย that movement as we celebrate our joint commitment to universalย child care,โย Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.ย โThis victory represents much more than a triumph of city…