There's a running joke in San Francisco that you need to get on a preschool waitlist before the pregnancy test comes back positive. Except it's not really a joke.
A first-time mom recently asked a simple question online: she's due in late October and will need childcare by April 2027. When should she start planning? The answer from seasoned SF parents was swift and unanimous: yesterday.
As one local parent put it bluntly: "Add yourself to preschool waiting lists now — and start interviewing for childcare now." The baby isn't even here yet and the bureaucratic clock is already ticking.
Let's sit with that for a second. In a city where the median one-bedroom apartment runs north of $3,000 a month, where we spend billions on homelessness with questionable results, and where basic government services move at the speed of a Muni bus on Market Street — the childcare market is so broken that parents-to-be must compete for slots eighteen months before they need them. This isn't a planning problem. It's a supply problem.
The advice from experienced SF parents is telling. Join mom groups like Main Street Mamas or Golden Gate Mothers. Don't just waitlist your top-choice preschool — sign up for several. Consider in-home daycares for more flexibility. Look into nanny shares, though expect to pay a premium. One resident recommended Natural Resources in the Mission for classes and gear.
All solid, practical guidance. But notice what nobody suggested: that the city is doing anything meaningful to fix this.
San Francisco's childcare shortage isn't new. The city has layered on regulations, zoning restrictions, and licensing requirements that make it extraordinarily difficult and expensive to open new childcare facilities. Meanwhile, young families keep leaving — and the ones who stay are stuck navigating a system that feels designed to push them out.
If City Hall spent half the energy streamlining childcare permitting that it spends on feel-good resolutions, maybe a pregnant woman in 2025 wouldn't need to start a spreadsheet of waitlists before she's picked out a crib.
We want families to stay in San Francisco. But wanting it and making it possible are two very different things.