High cost makes child care inaccessible for many Iowans, report finds

Iowa ranks sixth in the nation in child well-being, up three spots from the previous year’s report, according to the 2023 Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting child wellness.

The survey measures 16 factors of child well-being from four categories including economic well-being, health, education and family and community. Iowa ranked behind New Hampshire, Utah, Massachusetts, Vermont and Minnesota in overall child well-being, according to the report.

Child welfare advocates in Iowa and around the country, however, point to the high cost, impact and inaccessibility of child care for middle class families as a key focus for legislators to address in coming years.

Common Good Iowa, a nonprofit that advocates for policy aimed at promoting family and child well-being, helps collect data yearly for the Iowa segment of the Kids Count report. Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, told The Gazette that while Iowa ranks well among states, there is work to be done with child care.

“This year’s edition of the data book highlights the areas where Iowa continues to do well by our children and their families — and the areas where we simply must do better,” Discher said. “Child care is one of those areas where there is much more to do.”

According to the report, 14 percent of Iowa children up to age 5 had a family member who quit, changed or refused a job due to issues with child care in 2020 to 2021, compared with 13 percent nationally.

Common Good Iowa found that tuition for child care facilities rivaled state and community college tuition rates. The report found that center-based child care costs Iowa families $10,437 annually, while home-based care costs $6,823 annually, averaging about 10 and 6 percent of married couples’ income, respectively.

In comparison, for example, resident undergraduates next academic year will pay $9,016 in tuition at the University of Iowa and $8,982 at Iowa State University.

The report also found that child care workers earn less than 98 percent of professions nationally and the median hourly wage for Iowa child care workers was $10.99, compared with $13.71 nationally.

“You almost can't get a lower paying job than child care, even though of course, they're doing work that's incredibly important,” Discher said. “Important to the safety of kids, and important to our economy.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new law in May that is projected to increase participation by parents in the state’s child care assistance program by more than 15 percent. The bill passed the Iowa Legislature with near unanimous approval.

The state has also spent over $500 million on child care since 2020, Reynolds told reporters while signing the law in May at a Fort Dodge child care center in May. That includes grants that were expected to open hundreds of child care spots in the state.

“If we made the choice, say, to invest in affordable, accessible child care, it would help our communities — and ultimately measures of child well-being — across the board,” Discher said in a statement. “Kids would receive the positive early experiences they need to develop, parents would have the chance to pursue family-supporting careers and our economy would get the workers it needs to reach its full potential.”

Discher and Lisa Hamilton, chief executive officer of the Annie E. Cassie Foundation, emphasized the negative impacts that child care shortages have on the economy. The report found that the U.S. economy loses $122 billion a year as child care challenges cause parents to miss, quit or scale back work.

“A good child care sys­tem is essen­tial for kids to thrive and our econ­o­my to pros­per. But our cur­rent approach fails kids, par­ents and child care work­ers by every mea­sure,” Hamilton said in a statement. ​ “With­out safe child care they can afford and get to, working parents face impossible choices, affect­ing not only their fam­i­lies but their employ­ers as well.”

The reports also found that Iowa ranks first in on-time high school graduation rates, but also the share of children living in households with high housing costs.

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