New York State War Council. Committee on Child Care, Development and Protection

New York businesses alleviated the labor shortage caused by World War II by turning to women, who left their domestic roles to find good wages in defense-related industries. In addition to single women and childless wives, mothers answered the call to work, and their necessity in the work force, combined with the needs of their children, gave rise to state-sponsored child care.

The New York State War Council, as part of its duty to ensure an adequate labor supply, recognized the need for child care programs and in 1942 organized the Committee on Child Care, Development, and Protection. The Committee initiated a two-phase program: one for pre-school children, the other for school-age children. The program was designed to encourage women into war industries which the War Manpower Commission estimated needed an additional 250,000 women to augment the 500,000 already in the work force. In late 1942, the War Council responded to charges that the Committee was not cooperating with other groups interested in child care, such as churches and private charities, by reorganizing the committee and renaming it the New York State Committee on Child Care, Development, and Protection. It was an advisory board whose members were appointed by the governor and whose chairperson, Elsie M. Bond, was a paid employee of the War Council.

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