Strong Majorities of Los Angeles Voters Want California’s Next Governor to Invest In Early Childhood Care & Education

New poll finds support among nine in 10 voters that is shared throughout the county & across party affiliations

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 28, 2017- Strong majorities of Los Angeles voters support greater investments in programs that benefit California’s youngest children and would favor a candidate for governor who pledges to create a system of high-quality, publicly funded childcare and preschool programs. These are among the key findings from two surveys released today by the California Community Foundation in partnership with Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Choose Children 2018 campaign. The release of these poll results is part of local and statewide campaign dedicated to ensuring all candidates for California governor publicly commit to making early childhood care and education more accessible, affordable and of higher quality for all children.

Based on a statewide poll conducted in June, greater than nine in 10 (92.5%) Los Angeles County voters say it is important for California’s next governor to support more investments in programs that benefit young children, with 67% believing such support is very important. A supermajority of 78.5% would support a gubernatorial candidate who pledges support for early childhood care and education (ECE).

“Los Angeles voters are saying loud and clear: now is the time to invest in early childhood programs that will prepare our youngest children for success in school and in life,” said Antonia Hernández, President and CEO of the California Community Foundation. “Despite the well documented societal benefits quality early child care and education provides us all, access and affordability remain a barrier to families in Los Angeles County. Early childhood education should be considered a right and a necessity – just like public school.”

Statewide results found that three-quarters of voters (73.1%) would support a 2018 gubernatorial candidate who wants to create a system of high-quality, publicly funded child care and preschool programs for all California babies, toddlers and preschoolers. That support is shared across ethnicity, geography and political party. Statewide, 50% of Republicans, 84.4% of Democrats and 77.8% of independent voters would support a candidate for governor who invests more in early care and education. Strong support was shared by voters in San Francisco (75.5%), and San Diego (69.0%) counties.

And as voters expressed their perspective about the upcoming election, they also had strong views about the availability of early childhood development services and the actions they want policymakers to take. Voters with young children, in particular, cited lack of access as a concern.

Furthermore, a companion survey that focused exclusively on Los Angeles County found that among parents of young children (age 10 and under) in the region, child care and preschool are perceived as less accessible than other basic local amenities essential to working families. More than one-third of parents (34%) said they could not access affordable, quality child care that is conveniently located and works for their schedule – greater even than those who cited challenges in accessing good-paying jobs (32%).

The countywide survey additionally asked respondents about a range of specific policies to help families with young children. Parents voiced the strongest support for policies that “help make child care more affordable for existing child care costs”(74% top or high priority) and “make quality preschool more available and affordable” (74% top or high priority), as well as “having more jobs that provide a flexible schedule so families can more easily deal with child care needs” (71% top
or high priority).

“The Los Angeles community all shares a common desire: more support for young children and their families,” said Celia Ayala, a member of the California Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education and former CEO of LAUP. “It’s shocking that parents believe it is easier to find a good-paying job than it is to find quality, affordable child care.”

In addition, early childhood care and education remains a priority even when compared to other top issues facing the state. In the statewide survey, nearly eight in 10 voters (78%) identified the cost of healthcare, 78% the state of K-12 and college education, 71.5% public safety, and 70.4% early childhood education as the issues that should receive the highest priority for increased public investments by the state.

Review details on the poll results here.

CONTACT
Ann-Sophie Morrissette, Fenton
213.568.6007
amorrissette [@] fenton [.] com

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About the Polls
GrassrootsLab and Tulchin Research conducted the statewide survey from Friday, July 7 through Saturday, July 15, 2017. For the Los Angeles sample, 200 respondents were interviewed using live, professional interviewers, speaking Spanish and English languages and calling both mobile and landlines. A survey of this size yields a margin of error of +/-7% (95% confidence interval). For full statewide results, please visit www.choosechildren.org.

Tulchin research conducted the Los Angeles County survey from May 17 to May 31, 2017. One thousand (1,000) respondents were interviewed using live, professional interviewers, speaking Spanish and English languages and calling both mobile and landlines and through online data collection conducted in both Spanish and English. The survey included a base sample of 600 registered voters countywide and an oversample of 400 registered voters who were parents of minor children. The margin of error for the base sample is +/-4%. The margin of error for the parent oversample is +/- 4.9%.

About The California Community Foundation
The California Community Foundation has served as a public, charitable organization for Los Angeles County since 1915. Its mission is to lead positive systemic change that strengthens Los Angeles communities. CCF stewards $1.7 billion in assets and manages 1,600 charitable foundations, funds and legacies. For more information, please visit www.calfund.org.

About Choose Children 2018
Choose Children 2018 is a statewide campaign committed to ensuring California’s next governor is a champion for young children who makes early childhood care and education more accessible, affordable, and of higher quality. The initiative is led by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Center for Early Learning in partnership with community, business,philanthropic, and educational leaders throughout California. Learn more at www.choosechildren.org.