Children having lunch with a trained assistant at a childcare center opened September 15, 1942, in New Britain, Connecticut. The center served thirty children, aged two to five, of mothers engaged in war industry. #

Between 1943 and 1946, spending on the program exceeded the equivalent of $1 billion today, and each year, about 3,000 childcare centers served roughly 130,000 children. #

Children at a childcare center sit for “story time.” During the Great Depression, the government operated some childcare centers as a means of employing teachers who were laid off, and presumably, some of the wartime staffers were holdovers from this initiative. #

A female employee of North American Aviation works over the landing gear mechanism of a P-51 fighter plane, in Inglewood, California, in October of 1942. Once women returned from their long days at the factory, they were still expected to do all the housework. #

Children lie in beds during their rest period. At the end of the war, the subsidized nursery schools closed, helping cast women out of the workforce to open up jobs for returning soldiers. #

A woman works at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California, where the B-17F (“Flying Fortress”) heavy bomber, the A-20 (“Havoc”) assault bomber, and the C-47 heavy transport plane for the carrying of troops and cargo were made. #

Two girls wash up for lunch. Studies show that these childcare programs correlated to an increase in maternal employment, even five years after the end of the program, and “strong and persistent positive effects on well-being” for children. #

A Civil Service female worker works in the repair shop of the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, in August 1942. The original caption reads: “Answering the nation's need for womanpower, Mrs. Virginia Davis made arrangement for the care of her two children during the day and joined her husband at work in the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. Both are employed under Civil Service in the assembly and repair department. Mrs. Davis' training will enable her to take the place of her husband should he be called by the armed service.” #

Children have lunch with a trained assistant. By the end of the war, between 550,000 and 600,000 children are estimated to have received some care from the day care programs. #

A woman works in the control surface department at North American Aviation, assembling a section for the horizontal stabilizer of a plane in Inglewood, California, in October of 1942. #

“Milk time” at the day care center in June of 1943. The Lanham program broke ground as the first and only time in American history when parents could send their children to federally-subsidized childcare, regardless of income. #

This woman worker at Vultee-Nashville plant is shown working on the horizontal stabilizer for a Vultee "Vengeance" dive bomber in Tennessee in February of 1943. #

A woman operates a hand drill at the Vultee-Nashville Plant in Tennessee on an A-31 Vengeance dive bomber. A mother could send a child of two to five years of age to childcare for 50 cents per day (about $7 in today). That included lunch and snacks in the morning and afternoon. #

In their daily outdoor play, children had wheel toys to ride and pull, climbing, digging, and swinging. It was during this period that the term “day care” was coined. #

A turret lathe operator works on parts for transport planes at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant in Fort Worth, Texas, in October of 1942. Now, in 31 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual cost to send an infant to daycare can exceed a year’s tuition and fees at a public university. #

A child being taken care of in the United Nations service center nursery. Today, women are still expected to forget about, or scale down their careers if no decent childcare options are available. #

Peggy Bridgeman, left, demonstrates to Ruth Harris the correct technique while their instructor, Lee Fiscus, looks on in the Gary plant of the Tubular Alloy Steel Corporation. The original caption states: “Peggy is acclaimed by her superiors to be one of the most skilled welders they have had working with them.” #