Praise for Crawling Behind

“In combining the love of a father with the expertise of a scholar, the book is at once deeply reported and universally accessible—a must-read for policymakers and parents alike.”

Julie Kashen

Director, Women’s Economic Justice and
Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation

Meet Elliot Haspel

Elliot Haspel is a nationally-recognized child and family policy expert and commentator, with specialties in early childhood and education issues, as well as the linkage between childhood and climate. He is the author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It (Black Rose, 2019).

Elliot has appeared on television as an analyst, including on The PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff, and his writings have appeared in a wide variety of top publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Elliot is regularly sought out by journalists, and has been quoted in such mediums as The New York Times, NPR, and TIME Magazine. He has been the keynote speaker at several early childhood events and has been asked to moderate major panel discussions, including one on child care hosted by Save The Children as part of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Elliot Haspel is a nationally-recognized child and family policy expert and commentator, with specialties in early childhood and education issues, as well as the linkage between childhood and climate. He is the author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It (Black Rose, 2019).

Elliot has appeared on television as an analyst, including on The PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff, and his writings have appeared in a wide variety of top publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Elliot is regularly sought out by journalists, and has been quoted in such mediums as The New York Times, NPR, and TIME Magazine. He has been the keynote speaker at several early childhood events and has been asked to moderate major panel discussions, including one on child care hosted by Save The Children as part of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Elliot started his career as a 4th grade public school teacher in Arizona. Following his time in the classroom, he acquired a M.Ed. in Education Policy & Management from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. His career has brought him to a variety of policy and advocacy roles, including a stint as the on-staff Policy Analyst for the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. He currently works as the Program Officer for Education Policy & Research at one of Virginia’s largest and oldest philanthropic foundations. Elliot also holds a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia. He lives in Richmond, VA with his wife and two young daughters.

Elliot also writes a free semi-monthly newsletter, The Parents Aren't Alright.

Elliot Haspel, headshot

Further Reading

Further Reading from Elliot Haspel

Climate change is forcing us indoors — and childhood will never be the same

For me, summers were for exploring the nearby forest, clambering up trees, undamming the creek of leaves, nudging roly-polies with a stick. Yet this summer, which was supposed to be a respite from the coronavirus, has shown with brutal clarity that climate change threatens the very experience of childhood itself.
July 23, 2021

Raising the Future: America’s Child Care Dilemma

PBS NewsHour recently examined the nation’s fractured child care system and its impact on women, children, people of color and the economy. Elliot appears in the July 12 and July 16 segments addressing the problems with our market-based child care system and the possibility of resolving the partisan divide to create a national child care system, respectively.
July 12, 2021

There’s a massive child-care worker shortage and the market can’t fix it

Child-care programs are contending with massive and unprecedented staffing shortages. The rotten seed of America’s disinvestment in child care has finally sprouted, and without a new, permanent source of public funding, the sector is likely to crash and pull working families down with it.
May 26, 2021

Let's Tell Our Story

If Crawling Behind hits close to home for you, share your story of childcare stress. Your family’s particular experience informs my understanding of the birth-to-five care landscape. (P.S. Your story is safe with me. I’ll never pass it on without your permission.)

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