In the second half of last year, there were an estimated 400,000 children on waitlists for childcare assistance programs across the U.S., according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center released in May. That’s nearly the size of the population of Minneapolis.

“We have public funding for our schools because we recognize it as a public good that is important for our economy, for the well-being and future success of young people,” said Karen Schulman, senior director of state childcare policy at the National Women’s Law Center. “We don’t fund our childcare system like that.”