We usually write about child care in national terms. This month, Louisiana produced two pieces of research that show the problem at a scale you can actually picture, and they are worth a closer look wherever you live.
The report
The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children released a report this month called The Missing Piece, about how the state's shortage of child care affects its workforce. Among its findings, as reported by WAFB:
- Nearly 8,000 children are on a waiting list for the state's child care assistance program.
- One in three parents said they had cut their work hours because they couldn't find child care.
- 17 percent said they had quit a job altogether.
- The state currently has about $78 million to help low-income families pay for care.
- Serving the most at-risk children from birth through age three would take at least $1 billion a year, according to the institute's CEO, Libbie Sonnier.
The gap between those last two numbers is the story. It is not a shortfall that providers can close by working harder or charging more. As Sonnier put it, the state knows what it costs.
The poll
A separate poll released October 19 by the First Five Years Fund and the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children asked Louisiana voters about child care as part of the cost of living. Among the findings:
- 36 percent of voters said they are struggling to pay for child care.
- 28 percent said they were delaying starting or growing a family because of child care costs, and among current parents it was 51 percent.
- 76 percent said child care costs are part of the country's affordability crisis, including 71 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats.
- 72 percent said affordable, quality child care should be an important state priority over the next year, up from 65 percent in 2025.
Polls commissioned by advocacy groups deserve some caution, and this one's sponsors want more child care funding. But the bipartisan pattern is consistent with what we hear from families of every political stripe: child care is not a culture-war issue. It is a household budget issue.
Why Louisiana's numbers apply everywhere
Louisiana isn't unusual. The same pattern shows up wherever someone measures it:
- Parents leave work. When care isn't available, someone, usually a mother, cuts back or quits. That is lost income for the family and lost workers for employers.
- Waitlists hide the real demand. A waitlist only counts the families who applied. Many give up before they get that far.
- The workforce is the bottleneck. Programs can't open more seats without teachers, and they can't hire teachers at what families can afford to pay. We wrote about research on early educators leaving the field earlier this month.
It's also why communities are starting to act on their own. Last week we looked at two local child care measures on the November ballot, and why both put money into paying the people who do the work. When the numbers show a billion-dollar need against $78 million, that is the kind of gap local and state voters are being asked to close.
What families can do now
If you're on a waitlist or cutting hours to cover care, a few things are worth knowing:
- Stay on the waitlist and keep your information current. Assistance programs sometimes open slots with little notice, and an outdated phone number can cost you a place.
- Ask your employer what they offer. A federal tax credit for employers that help with child care was expanded starting this year, and it now covers far more of what employers spend.
- Look at the full range of options. Licensed family child care homes, Head Start and Early Head Start, and school-based pre-K all have different eligibility rules. Our guide to child care costs and what families can do walks through them.
Louisiana put a dollar figure on the problem. Most states would find a similar gap if they looked.
