America Used to Have Universal Child Care | The Class Room Ep. 1

Today universal child care seems like a radical, unattainable, expensive dream. But America had a child care program—for years—and managed to pay for it during the most expensive war ever. And it worked! What happened?

Here's the forgotten story about how the United States created a system of federally funded daycares and nurseries during World War II, and how President Nixon killed our last chance at universal child care 40 years later.

#childcare #history
-----

Welcome to the Class Room, our new educational YouTube series, where we’ll provide context and understanding about important issues, suggesting policy solutions and dispelling myths about why we can’t have a better America. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any videos.

[MisterJang]

When Americans want social programs -
Congress: "But how are we gonna pay for it?"
When Israel and Saudi Arabia want more military funding -
Congress: *Instantly pulls out checkbook.*

[leelindsay]

If there were universal childcare, there would be less childhood poverty, fewer gangs, and less crime...its almost like it would help all the people do better even if they didn't have children, or their children were grown past that age.

[justthinking]

Community colleges used to be free too.

[darinsingleton]

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. -- Milan Kundera.

[TheTrishalyn]

It's all about balance. The income to cost of living is so out of whack we now have to work 2 or 3 jobs. And have kids? I honestly don't know how families are doing it these days.

[yes]

If you want to make America great again, give the people universal child care .

[elliekillsmonsters]

i'm so excited for this series!! :D 💜💜

[idacookies]

Love the off handed dunking on the military.

[kstar]

I had no idea about this bit of history. Really inspiring, I hope we get universal childcare

[janelle]

Dang, wish we could have child care again… maybe then more millennials could afford to have kids.

[vafurtomli]

I love this! Make this a series!
Also yall should make a labor news podcast id inject that stuff in my veins every day

[samsungfanboy]

We never learned about this program in our history classes at school

[VLAD.....]

I actually like this. I hope you do more like this one

[awesomelycurious]

I love this! I hope this becomes a series! What other topics will y'all tackle?

[matthewbergman]

It’s a real shame we got rid of universal childcare. Time to bring it back!

[ok-shxp]

Pssst, hey algorithm, over here, I have a nice and tasty comment for ya

[kbhasi]

I like that you're doing this series!

[katgirl]

It’s always a Republican! Kids do better in social situations. That is how it was done for hundreds of years. Extended families lived together on farms or close to each other.

[avirichar]

Great explainer vid and decently persuasive seems to me, on a crucial topic.

One nitpick to improve: somewhere midway through the math on years is off by a decade, and while maybe many (most?) won't notice this consciously, it kinda at least subconsciously throws off the whole credibility factor, when so much of the rest of this relies on clear, solid, numeric data to bolster the subpoints and overall purpose.

It wasn't 40 years between WWII and Nixon. It was 30. Because yes it was 50 years ago almost when he vetoed the possible good permanent-ization of universal childcare, but 50+40 is 90, and no, WWII wasn't 90 years ago (especially not the penultimate year of it).

[Edit to specify: this is at and just after 4:50 in the vid.]

Fix that little flub, and you'd have a near perfect vid, I'd say! Also though, given the numeracy issues in general, and the whole basis of this topic being about improving so many factors of life, including educational outcomes achievement wise, it would probably be good to get 100% score on the grading for the vid itself, on that side of things (quant vs. qual, math vs. language, etc etc etc) that tends to weight so heavily in our still (overly) analytic-philosophy skewed, and capitalist/money-skewed, society and culture here in America, which of course is the entire crucial context of this vid's topic and meaningful aims to improve.

Anyway, excellent job on the rest of it! And with that, this "sh#t sandwich" method of critique concludes ;-)

[ina]

Just give us a guaranteed basic income and universal childcare we can divide what to do. That’s actual freedom. No young children in the first few years of life do not do better at a packed childcare center, with an exploited teacher, got it?