Too few childcare workers and the extreme cost of childcare are hardest on rural families. Utah is an example.

The childcare shortage is more dire in
rural areas. (Photo by Kracken, Unsplash)

Across the U.S., roughly 51% of American families live in a childcare desert, and 70% of rural parents report struggling to find any licensed caregivers with an opening, according to a new survey from the Center for American Progress. And even when parents are lucky enough to find a provider, they often struggle to afford it.

Both issues — the cost of care and the childcare worker shortage — are particularly acute in Utah, where "licensed providers meet only about 36% of the need, with rural communities facing significant shortages," reports Mark Richardson of UPR, which serves Utah and Southern Idaho.

Casey Peeks, the center's senior director of early childhood policy, told UPR, "You can make childcare free for every family living in a rural community tomorrow, but that's not going to solve the access." Peeks said that while addressing cost is important, developing and supporting childcare workers is equally vital.

Like many other states, the lack of childcare workers hurts Utah's treasury. "The childcare shortage costs Utah an estimated $1.3 billion each year in wages and productivity," UPR reports.

Utah lawmakers have been working to address childcare expenses by "expanding tax credits for employers that provide childcare, increasing the Child Tax Credit, and extending paid maternity leave for state employees," Richardson explains. But none of those changes increase the number of childcare workers.

To increase the number of childcare providers, the profession needs to be reassessed both in terms of importance and wages. Hailey Gibbs, associate director of the center's early-childhood policy team, told UPR that workers are often seen as getting "paid to play." Richardson adds, "The annual cost of childcare in Utah is between $7,000 and $10,000. A childcare worker is paid about $15 an hour on average."

Policymakers and voters need a better understanding "about child development and the needs of young children," Gibbs told Richardson, "and also the returns that children see in their education, in their health outcomes, even in their adult earnings when they have these kinds of really enriching early opportunities.”

Richardson adds, "Gibbs said the data shows the need for comprehensive solutions that address both cost and availability, starting with better wages for childcare professionals."