Not that I’m on the universal child care bandwagon, but access to quality and affordable child care, especially for low-income households, actually saves money for all of us in both the short term and long term.

In the short term, when affordable child care is available, families can work and/or go to educational training programs. Employers are more likely to have reliable employees of the employees aren’t worried about where their kid is while they’re at work. Kids in a quality child care learn what they need to start school ready to learn, which means teachers can teach instead of spending time playing catch up (or worse) when kids are in the classroom. Although it’s considered long term, kids who do well in school are more likely to graduate, stay out of the judicial system, and become productive members of society.

As far as long term, the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs has found that high quality early childhood programs can yield a $4 – $9 dollar return per $1 invested. A 2009 study of Perry Preschool, a high-quality program for 3-5 year olds developed in Michigan in the 1960s, estimated a return to society of between about $7 and $12 for each $1 invested. There are several other studies which demonstrate the return on investment in regards to affordable and accessible child care.

So while child free people might want to opt out, they should probably do so when they’re living on an island by themselves, because access to affordable and quality child care is one of those things where the entire community (and beyond) benefit from it—not just the people using it.