On Tuesday, Alameda County voters can improve the health and well-being of everyone in our county. Passing Measure C would dramatically increase – by about $150 million a year – funding for affordable child care and health care for kids and families by raising the sales tax by a half-cent on the dollar.

While the nation may be heading in directions that terrify us, we can live our values – values like fairness and equity – by passing the measure and ensuring that everyone in Alameda County can thrive.

Jonathan Heller 

Twenty percent of the revenue generated from Measure C would fund safety-net health care services for children and a pediatric trauma center – one of two in the state – at UCSF Benioff’s Children’s Hospital Oakland, which serves children throughout the county. The remaining 80% would be used to make child care, preschool, and early education programs more affordable, including increasing wages for child care providers who ensure children have safe, nurturing early learning experiences.

Recent reports show that the Bay Area has the highest income inequity in the state. While the related news of unaffordable housing and health care is abundant, the crisis of a lack of affordable and high-quality child care, including preschool, is making these inequities worse. Only 31% of children in the county have access to a space in a licensed child care, preschool or early education setting, and the cost of care is higher than college.

While health care clearly leads to improved health and well-being, research is also clear that affordable and high-quality child care will lead to healthier children, families and communities. Children would be better prepared for school and be held back less. More kids would read at grade level and more would graduate from high school. They’d end up with better paying jobs, allowing them to continue to call Alameda County home. Parental and caregiver stress would be reduced, as would child abuse and neglect. Crime would decrease.

Adults who participated in high-quality preschool as children have better overall health than those that did not. They have lower rates of substance abuse, depression and disability. They are more likely to have health insurance. They also are less likely to become parents during their teenage years.

Nutrition, physical fitness, language and speech, oral health—there are myriad ways that preschool improves the lives and health of little kids. Moreover, what preschool does for individual children and families is what it does for us as a society. Sure, kids learn their numbers and colors and get the basis for a solid education. They get a lot. What we all get are young people instilled with an understanding of what it means to learn together, to be part of a community, to play, to work, to live together. The foundation that quality child care provides is the foundation supporting our very democracy.

This strong foundation makes the world better for everyone. Research shows that reducing income inequality – as would be done through the powerful combination of child care and health care programs supported by Measure C – improves everyone’s health and well-being. Societies that are more equal have a whole host of better outcomes across the board: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, and more. While reducing inequality in the Bay Area will take many strategies, supporting child care and health care is one research-based step we can take that we know will make a difference.

Our County budget must reflect our values and our tax structure is a critical component of building the inclusive, healthy society we seek. To truly have a healthy Alameda County, high-quality public goods, like child care and health care, must be accessible to everyone. We can make this a reality on Tuesday by voting yes on Measure C.

Jonathan Heller is former co-director of an Oakland-based non-profit that works to increase consideration of health and equity impacts in decision-making.