Balancing family and work during a child’s first years

Pregnancy through age three is the most critical period for children’s development. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic has battered working parents of young children, with what are likely to be significant and long-lasting negative consequences. In this brief, we propose a set of enhanced Infant-Toddler policies—in the areas of income support, child care, and paid family leave—to better support these families and improve their children’s long-term health and wellbeing. © 2020, Princeton University. All rights reserved.