Our Kids Our Future-Marin Child Care Initiative:
Strengthening Marin’s Workforce and Provide Safe Place for Children to Learn and Grow
As we recognize Women’s History Month, it is an important moment to reflect on the policies and systems that enable women to participate fully in the workforce and in leadership. Access to affordable, reliable child care is one of the most critical and often overlooked of those systems.
Access to affordable, reliable child care has become a critical constraint on Marin County’s workforce and economic stability at a time when the region is already facing population decline, persistent labor shortages, and increasing challenges around affordability. For many families, the cost of living combined with the high cost of child care makes it difficult to remain in Marin or participate fully in the workforce.
As reported by the County’s Early Learning Road Map, today the child care system is operating under significant strain. The average cost of infant care in Marin is nearly $28,000 per year, 38% increase since 2018 and 24% higher than the California statewide average, often exceeding housing costs while limited availability and long waitlists prevent many working families from accessing licensed care at all.
At the same time, the early care and education workforce is under pressure. Low wages and high turnover are reducing the availability of care, particularly for infant and toddler care, where options are especially limited. These challenges disproportionately impact women, especially women of color who make up a significant portion of the workforce but often earn wages that make it difficult to live in the communities they serve. Currently, only about half of Marin families can access licensed programs, and hundreds of income-qualified families remain on waitlists due to insufficient funding.
The result is a growing gap between workforce needs and child care access affecting employee retention, limiting labor force participation, and putting additional pressure on employers already struggling to attract and retain talent.
Recent federal proposals, including the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” further underscore the urgency of this issue. While Marin County’s analysis focuses broadly on impacts to health and human services funding, the implications for child care are clear: reductions in federal support and increased eligibility barriers are expected to place additional strain on an already limited system. For Marin, where hundreds of families already sit on waitlists for subsidized care and providers operate on thin margins, any disruption in funding will further reduce access and workforce participation
The Our Kids, Our Future initiative is a locally controlled strategy designed to address these challenges at scale. The measure would generate approximately $12.5 million annually, with all funds retained and invested within Marin County to expand access to high-quality child care and early learning.
The initiative focuses on three core areas:
Affordability: Offer income-based scholarships and programs to make care more accessible across the County.
Strengthen the workforce: Improve compensation, benefits, and career development opportunities for childcare providers and educators.
Invest in Facilities: Build, maintain, and expand early education spaces to increase overall capacity. This includes supporting providers to open, grow, and sustain home-based programs that are flexible and responsive to family needs.
These targeted investments are designed not only to improve access and reduce barriers to employment, but also to strengthen Marin’s long-term economic outlook. This is a direct investment in the region’s future workforce. Research consistently shows that children who have access to high-quality early care and education experience better health outcomes, stronger educational attainment, and improved lifetime economic outcomes. Currently, only about one-third of Marin children enter kindergarten fully prepared, underscoring the opportunity to improve outcomes through early investment.
For employers and business leaders, this initiative represents a strategic investment in workforce stability, affordability, and regional economic resiliency. When employees cannot access reliable child care or cannot afford to live in the communities where they work businesses experience higher turnover, increased absenteeism, and a shrinking talent pool. Expanding access to child care is not only a family support strategy, it is a workforce and economic strategy that strengthens productivity, supports retention, and ensures Marin remains a competitive place to live, work, and do business.
Learn More by Visiting the website Our Kids Our Future Here.