Guess which industry, if it ceased to serve its function, would have the power to shut down America, impacting public and private sectors alike? Here’s a hint: It’s a human service industry that is generally undervalued in regard to salary and social status, yet most working parents rely on its services.

Start thinking about the people who work in businesses and agencies, considering what it takes for them to get to work every day, and you might discover a thread that leads to the caregivers who tend to the needs of our children. If you reflect this way, the care and education of young children is everyone’s business.

Recently it became my business. I opened a day care center in September, after teaching for many years and raising my own children. Now in a typical day, I crunch numbers, counsel parents about child-rearing, sweep the floor, wash dishes, write letters, pay bills, answer the phone and so on. All of this gets done while holding to the regulations from the Office of Child and Family Services and, most importantly, smiling at every child I see. That’s the easy part. I truly love it—it’s great work that I am convinced is extremely important.

Fortunately, President Obama agrees and he plans to infuse $5 billion into early childhood education. Used properly, this investment into families today and our futures could have a huge impact on early childhood education and, in particular, the day care industry. It’s a fact that young children spend more hours of the day and more days of the year in day care than they will in any school situation. Since quantity is a given, let’s focus on quality.

Current research published by the National Alliance for Childhood supports the importance of play as a vehicle for learning, social interaction, developing imagination and integrating life’s experiences. Through play, children develop the self-regulation essential for success in school and in life.

It seems that while playing, children employ their “executive function,” which is all about decision-making. They need environments — indoors and outdoors — that are conducive to creative play with materials that are open-ended enough for them to exercise their imagination.

Often the child who likes to build with blocks is developing a lifelong interest in architecture or the one who likes to tend to the doll babies may grow up to be a teacher or even a day care center director. I admit that when I was a child, I liked to play house and typically, my role was the mother of dolls named after my younger siblings. Play is the important work of the young child, just as our occupations are for us adults.

What if we invested the money earmarked for early childhood education into programs where children spend most of their time and into those who provide what children really need? We could serve the present as well as the future; it’s a short-term investment with a long-term gain.

If we invested in high-quality child day care programs, we’d reap the benefits in families and in businesses where employed parents must grapple between work and home, conflicted by the choices they need to make. Wellsupported day care centers could provide what parents are seeking, a home away from home for their children, so the parents can focus on their work knowing their children are well tended. Quality day care centers benefit everyone in a society that recognizes the significant role they perform.