New Report Finds Wide Disparities in Investments in Children’s Earliest Years Across States

Policies adopted by states drive major differences in the resources available to families

The first three years of life are critical for healthy development, yet families in some states have more than twice the resources of those in others-a gap created by state policy choices.

Consider a single mother raising an infant and a toddler while working full-time. In Colorado, she has more than $56,000 in total resources available over the course of a year through her earnings and state and federal policy supports. In North Carolina, a similar family has less than $21,000. The difference is not how hard she works, but the policies her state has in place to support working families.

This reality is captured in the 2025 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap and the new interactive Policy Impact Calculator, released today by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University. Together, these tools reveal how states' decisions about wages, child care subsidies, paid leave, and tax credits combine to shape the total level of resources available to working families with young children.

"Parents work hard to provide for their children, but the opportunities available to them differ greatly depending on the policies in their state," said Dr. Cynthia Osborne, Executive Director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center and Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy at Vanderbilt University. "The Roadmap shows which policies matter most, and the interactive Calculator makes clear what those choices mean in real terms for parents and their children."

States made these decisions in the context of ongoing federal changes, including the expiration of child care relief funds and shifts in Medicaid and SNAP. Even amid this uncertainty, many states advanced policies to strengthen support for young children and their families.

This year's Roadmap highlights meaningful action across the country:

• Michigan increased its minimum wage by $2.15 per hour from 2024 to 2025, giving full-time minimum wage workers an additional $4,472 in annual income-enough to cover eight months of groceries for a single parent with two children.
• Connecticut created a $300 million endowment to expand early learning programs, ensuring stable funding for child care.
• West Virginia made child care subsidies accessible to far more families by raising income eligibility from 45 percent to 85 percent of the state's median income.
• Washington set the highest Medicaid reimbursement rate in the nation for doulas at up to $3,500 per pregnancy, expanding access to proven perinatal supports.

Across states, the Calculator shows how these choices add up. These differences determine whether parents can stay home with a newborn, afford high-quality child care, or cover essentials during a child's earliest years.

"Policies are not just numbers on a page," Osborne said. "They set the foundation for whether families can meet their children's needs in the most important years of development."

• View the full 2025 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.
• Find your state's ranking in the interactive Policy Impact Calculator.
• Find your state's overall 2025 summary.

Press Contact: Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, [email protected]