To unpack the analysis, Part I first uses the lens of formal/informal to outline the sectors in the childcare economy and the sectoral distribution across families in different income groups. Part II maps the plural policy goals of childcare subsidies and describes how the tension among these policy goals plays out in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The rest of the Article examines in detail the CCDF’s formalization reform. Part III maps invested interest groups’ different visions of childcare and their divergent agendas on CCDF subsidy policies, concluding that the Early Childhood Education advocates—who argue for formalization on an educational rather than a custodial model—are enjoying predominance in childcare policy debates. Part IV analyzes the resulting CCDF’s formalization reform and its distributional consequences across the childcare economy, with an emphasis on low-income families. Part V proposes some policy suggestions before the Conclusion. (author abstract)