CHILD CARE GAP IS COSTING MONTANA MILLIONS: The Impact of Inadequate Child Care on Families, Employers and the State.

• Author: Sonora, Robert
• Position: RESEARCH

If you are a parent, you are keenly aware of the difficulties in providing adequate child care for your young children. It's no secret that child care can be costly and inadequate child care can contribute to a host of issues, including job selection, absenteeism and work performance. That can in turn can affect one's earning potential, as well as the earning potential of employers and the greater state economy. Put it all together and Montana loses $232 million a year due to inadequate child care.

Parents in the state struggle with this issue and their options for providing child care before their children reach school age vary broadly. It can be as clear-cut as one parent staying home with the child full time, arranging care with a relative, or something more complex--utilizing a combination of several child care alternatives, such as a child care center.

At least 73% of Montana households with children ages 0 to 5 years old require some form of child care. These types of arrangements allow parents to earn a pay check, but they often do not fully meet their needs. Child care is costly and the younger the child, the greater the cost.

During the winter and spring of2020, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research conducted a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis-sponsored survey to examine issues related to inadequate child care in the state. Most respondents replied prior to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but responses received after the start of the pandemic were not substantially different than those received before.

The survey found that a majority of households used more than one form of child care. About 58% of respondents said they have their children stay at home with a parent, stepparent or guardian at least some of the time. One-quarter (25%) of households had children who attended pre-K or kindergarten, while nearly as many (24%) had children staying with a family member other than a parent. Twenty-three percent of households had children attending a licensed child care center, and 11% had children attending a licensed home-based family or group care provider. The remainder included households with children in Head Start, a child staying with an unlicensed, unrelated person who cares for a few children, or those who employed a babysitter or nanny.

Respondents reported experiencing a number of challenges with 57% saying that finding affordable child care was their greatest issue. A large percentage (41%) have faced problems...