These cities raised taxes — for child care. Parents say the free day care 'changed my life'

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Last summer, Derrika Richard felt stuck. She didn’t have enough money to afford for her three youngest children, ages 1, 2 and 3. Yet the demands of caring for them on a daily basis made it impossible for Richard, a hairstylist, to work. One child care assistance program rejected her because she wasn’t working enough. It felt like an unsolvable quandary: Without care, . And without work, she couldn’t afford care. But Richard’s life changed in the fall, when, thanks to a new city-funded program for...