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How America Got (And Lost) Universal Child Care

The U.S. managed to pay for a child care program during the most expensive war ever. What happened?

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More Perfect Union

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.