Join Natalie Moore, Erikson Institute and PRX for 1,800 Days: The Story of Early Childhood in the U.S. , a five-part podcast series.  We will take a deep dive into the first 1,800 days of every child’s life, from birth to kindergarten. We will look at the past, present and future of America's early care and education system, and the children who live with the fallout. Episodes begin February 28, wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode, we’ll look at how the inequities in the childcare system appear in two different situations in Chicago. We’ll look at the importance of the first years of life through the lens of the pandemic’s psychological toll on young children. Finally, we’ll discuss some of the informal structures that have developed due to the childcare gap.

Childcare in America has been disproportionately provided by women of color. Since the first enslaved people arrived in 1619, women of color have been tasked with caring for the children of the affluent. Even after emancipation, indeed to the present day, the childcare sector has been dominated by women of color. In this episode we trace the development of the childcare industry in the United States from the days of slavery leading up to the creation of Head Start. We’ll ask how popular culture helped to perpetuate the image of the woman of color providing childcare and how community values influenced early childhood education over time.