Where the Child Care Shortage Is Hitting Hard

One in four families with young kids couldn’t use child care last month. In some states, parents are stretched to the brink.

By Sharon Lurye

Feb. 1, 2022, at 11:48 a.m.

New Jersey was the hardest-hit state, as 39% of households with children under 5 said they had challenges with child care.

A record-setting COVID-19 wave, staff shortages and winter weather meant many kids across the U.S. couldn’t go to their regular day care in the past month – and, as a result, finding child care has been a nightmare for families, especially in Northeast and Midwest states.

A new Household Pulse Survey from the Census Bureau finds that from Dec. 29 through Jan. 10, over 1 in 4 families with children under the age of 5 reported that they could not send their kids to child care because of safety concerns or because their usual option was closed, unavailable or unaffordable.

New Jersey was the hardest-hit state, as 39% of households with children under 5 said they had challenges with child care. Rhode Island followed next, with 37% of families affected, followed by Wisconsin, with 36%. The District of Columbia was also hard-hit, with 38% of families affected.

These challenges led to real hardship for families. In Rhode Island, for example, 16% of families with young kids said that someone in their household had to take unpaid leave to take care of the little ones. In New Jersey, 17% of households said someone had to cut their work hours. And in Wisconsin, 11% said someone in the household had to quit their job entirely.

Utah was the least-affected state, as only 10% of households with the youngest children reported problems. West Virginia (14%) and Louisiana (15%) were also relatively spared.

The survey asked families if they were unable to send their kids to daycare sometime in the prior four weeks. Nationally, 27% of families with kids under the age of 5 said they couldn’t access child care. Families with older kids had a slightly easier time, as 18% of families with kids ages 5-11 reported they couldn’t access child care.

For comparison, when the Census asked the same question one month prior, only 21% of families with kids under 5 said that child care access was an issue. Even during this autumn’s delta-fueled surge, the country did not see such a high portion of families reporting struggles with finding child care.

As a result of child care issues, 9% of families with the youngest kids said someone in the household had to cut work hours, 7% reported someone having to take unpaid leave and 4% said someone had to leave their job to take care of kids.

In the Seattle metro area, a whopping 40% of families with kids under 5 couldn’t access child care. Other hard-hit metro areas included Chicago (36%) and Detroit (34%).

Here are the states where the highest share of households with children under 5 said they couldn’t find outside care for their children in the past four weeks:

1. New Jersey (39.1%)

2. Rhode Island (37.4%)

3. Wisconsin (36.4%)

4. Minnesota (35.6%)

5. Mississippi (35.1%)

6. Connecticut (33.6%)

7. New Mexico (33.1%)

8. (Tie) Virginia (32.7%)

9. (Tie) Illinois (32.7%)

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2022-02-01/states-where-families-have-the-biggest-challenge-finding-childcare#:~:text=1%2C%202022%2C%20at%2011%3A48%20a.m.&text=A%20record%2Dsetting%20COVID%2D19,in%20Northeast%20and%20Midwest%20states.