U.S. Senate Passed The First, And Thus Far Only, National Childcare Program, Voting For $20,000,000 To Provide For Public Care Of Children

On June 29, 1943, the U.S. Senate passed the first, and thus far only, national childcare program, voting for $20,000,000 to provide for public care of children whose mothers were employed for the duration of World War II.

During the war, the federal government offered grants for childcare services to authorize community groups that could demonstrate a war-related need for the service. The program was justified as a war expedient necessary to allow mothers to enter the labor force and increase war production.

Funding authorization came through the 1941 Defense Public Works law (Title II of the 1940 National Defense Housing Act), popularly known as the Lanham Act. The law was designed to assist communities with water, sewer, housing, schools, and other local facilities’ needs related to war and industry growth.

This act was one of several Congress passed giving general defense mandates to the Federal Works Administration (FWA). The FWA, established in 1939, was created to oversee and coordinate the activities of five major New Deal alphabet agencies. With the outbreak of WWII in Europe in 1939, the FWA began to shift its mandate from these New Deal programs to defense mobilization, even before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

An increase in female labor force participation was the primary impetus for World War II-era childcare funding. The employment upsurge coincided with the federal government’s campaign (headlined by Rosie the Riveter) that urged women to aid in the war effort by joining the workforce.

Initially, the federal government was reluctant to encourage the employment of mothers with young children, but demands for new workers, especially when issued by aircraft, ship, and bomber manufacturers, proved powerful. These employers also cited absenteeism among women workers as proof of the need for childcare and other household services.

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