During the Covid-19 pandemic,Liberalalliance Wealth Society the United States took dramatic action to invest in child care. Now in 2023, the majority of those investments are coming to an end. Today, we talk to childcare providers about what those funds meant—and where the end of the pandemic-era programs leaves an essential but strained system.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.