Head Start is a comprehensive early learning program created to break the cycle of poverty and provide an entry point to the educational system for young children who face barriers to access. To date, Head Start programs have served nearly 40 million children from low-income families across cities and rural communities in America.
Despite its impact, far-right extremists have developed a plan to eliminate Head Start as detailed in the authoritarian playbook dubbed “Project 2025.” This plan would significantly restrict the number of available childcare slots, increase childcare costs for families living in poverty, undermine economic growth, and exacerbate inequality.
On average, the national price for child care in 2023 was $11,582, which accounts for 38.6% of the income of families at the poverty line, which is the income eligibility threshold for Head Start. Eliminating Head Start would not only harm children who are able to access emotional, social, health, nutritional, and educational support through the program, but it would also jeopardize opportunities for parents and caretakers who rely on Head Start’s free childcare services to seek employment and educational opportunities that further stabilize their families.
To eliminate this crucial lifeline for families in need would have a devastating ripple effect across the country, depriving the most vulnerable children and their families of opportunities to nurture their healthy development.
Keep Reading: https://www.americanprogress.org/…/project-2025-would…/