California Must Choose Children
California leaders need solutions to support the well-being, care, and learning of babies, toddlers and young children — and of the caring adults in their lives — to create a state where children thrive.
About Choose Children
Choose Children is a partnership of organizations and individuals committed to creating a thriving future for California children and families.
We work to ensure that candidates for California Governor take action and support investment and approaches that advance the well- being, care, and learning of young children, their families, and the essential workers who care for them.
Why Choose Children
California has the 4th largest economy in the world, yet our children’s health and well-being do not match our economic output.
- Nearly 19% of California Children live in poverty – fourth worst in the nation
- California ranks fourth for most expensive child care in the country averaging $21,945 per year – nearly three times more than an in-state college tuition.
- Sixty percent of California babies are not getting all their recommended well-child visits, and for African American babies, that number rises to 75 percent.
- 60% of babies do not get well-child visits in the first 15 months of life OR
- 71% of children do not receive recommended developmental screenings within the first three years of life
- 17% of early educators make less than a living wage
Our kids need us – and we have a responsibility to ensure that young children begin their lives healthy, safe, and ready to succeed in school and life.
And, we need our kids even more. The economic vibrancy of our state relies on making it a place where families with young children can live and thrive.