This article highlights the intersectional vulnerabilities faced by children, with a particular focus on those of migrant workers residing in urban slum-like settlements. Drawing on data from NFHS-5 (2019–20), it presents the layered discrimination rooted in the socio-economic disenfranchisement of their parents. Grounded in the capabilities approach, this article argues for robust state support for quality care in early childhood. Absence of such foundational support leads to corrosive capability failures, undermining children’s long-term development and well-being. State-sponsored child care empowers women in the informal sector by enabling them to work, earn, and attain social recognition. This, in turn, generates a multiplier effect on child health and nutrition. The article throws light on the implementation of social protection schemes that are nominally universal, requiring to fulfill certain eligibility criteria resulting in exclusion of the most vulnerable. It calls for a recalibration of policy frameworks to recognize migrant workers' children as rightful claimants of inclusive welfare. In conclusion, it proposes actionable pathways to embed child-centric equity within social policy.