Barbara Chow

With the end of the federal constitutional right to abortion, followed by swift action by many conservative states to implement abortion bans, abortion rights have become the hottest of issues in this fall’s elections. At the same time, the rising costs of caregiving, including the lack of affordable childcare and paid family and medical leave, are bringing families to the brink and commanding attention from candidates up and down the ballot.

When it comes to investing in equitable education opportunities for young children, factors related to the opportunity gap cannot be overlooked. For young children, some of these structural and institutional forces that maintain and exacerbate inequality include poverty, food insecurity, exposure to violence, inadequate access to health care, well-funded quality schools, and mental health care.