Across the state, New Hampshire businesses cite lack of child care as one of the top barriers to hiring and retaining the workers they need to grow and succeed.
When parents can’t find or afford child care, they may not be able to come to work or accept a new position. The decision to leave the workforce can also have significant financial impact on a family’s budget. It’s a catch 22.
High costs and long waiting lists leave many children unable to access the benefits of high-quality early childhood education, which limits their economic potential later in life. Research has shown that experiences in early childhood shape brain development and lay the foundation for all of the health, learning and behaviors that follow. A strong foundation in the early years sets children on a path to thrive in school and in life.
Many families struggle to afford the cost of child care in New Hampshire. Center-based early childhood education can have an annual cost of over $31,000, more than three times what the federal government considers to be affordable. Recent increases in eligibility for New Hampshire’s child care scholarship program has helped, but the need is far greater than the supply.
Child care programs are often unable to offer the level of wages required to retain qualified teachers and keep costs affordable for working families. The math simply doesn’t add up. As a result, there is frequent turnover in the field as workers move on to better paying jobs. In fact, one in four child care positions remain unfilled due to the high turnover rate.
The NH Fiscal Policy Institute has published several resources examining the economic challenges within the child care sector. NHFPI’s video explainer, A Healthy Childcare Industry Helps All Granite Staters, provides a helpful overview.
Strengthening the Child Care System
The child care system is a vital infrastructure that supports our economy, enabling parents to stay in the workforce and helping businesses to grow. We should ensure the system is strong, affordable, and accessible to all. We can have high-quality, affordable child care that is accessible to all communities, so parents can go to work and be a part of the dynamic economy.
Promising solutions do exist. In some communities, local businesses provide onsite child care for employees and offer open spots to community members. This approach can be successfully adapted to meet the needs of the local community.
An Economy that Works for Everyone
A stronger child care sector will benefit all of us, supporting a more robust economy today and ensuring all New Hampshire’s children – our future workforce – develop the skills to succeed in school and in life.
NH Possible envisions a state where economic opportunity and financial security are the standard. Where individuals and businesses all have what they need to thrive. And where all children can achieve their full potential.
NH Possible is building a movement to make this vision a reality. Join us! Sign up for the NH Possible newsletter to stay up-to-date and learn how you can contribute to progress.
-----------------------------------
Harvard Center on the Developing Child
Explainer: A Healthy Child Care Industry Helps All Granite Staters (animated video)NH Fiscal Policy Institute
The Fragile Economics of the Child Care Sector (Issue Brief) (May 2024)
https://nhfpi.org/resource/the-fragile-economics-of-the-child-care-sector/ NH Fiscal Policy Institute