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| A shortage of child care in the US has become so acute that it’s reaching far into rural communities, including one northwestern Oregon county where future embryos are in line for a spot at Amy Atkinson’s nursery and preschool. |
| "We have children that have not been implanted yet that are on our waitlist,” said Atkinson, referring to in vitro fertilization. “It’s desperation.” |
| From Oregon to New York, demand for child care far exceeds supply. Families are growing increasingly desperate as providers deal with staffing shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as well as historically low pay worsened by inflation. |
| Half of US residents live in child care deserts where fewer than a third of children have access to a slot at a licensed facility, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that has published reports on the issue. Access challenges have forced many parents to change jobs, reduce their hours or quit altogether. |
| The coronavirus pandemic shone a spotlight on the national child care crisis as an estimated 10% of the country’s programs shuttered. Between December 2019 and March 2021, about 16,000 programs permanently closed across 37 states, according to a report from Child Care Aware of America, a national network of child care resources and referral agencies. |
| Oregon is among 11 states where at least 60% of residents live in a child care desert, according to Center for American Progress data. Utah ranks highest, with 77%. |
| Child care deserts are disproportionately in low-income urban and rural communities. In cities, day cares tend to be concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods and costs can be exorbitant, the Center for American Progress has found. But rural shortages are more likely and more acute — many communities have no child care facilities at all. A 2018 report by the center found that 59% of rural communities are child care deserts, compared to 56% of urban and 44% of suburban communities. |
| Low pay and lack of benefits are fueling the nationwide shortage, as providers scramble to retain workers. |
| The median hourly wage for child care workers is $11.43, according to May 2021 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Starbucks and Amazon offer a minimum wage of $15 an hour for entry-level positions with no certification requirements. Providers are struggling to match those wages in a tight post-pandemic labor market. |
| With inflation at a 40-year high, many parents are facing a dilemma — they can’t find child care, but they can’t afford to stay home. |
| In Gearhart, a town of 1,900 residents about 14 miles south of Astoria, Karli Neilson takes time off and works part-time so that she can watch her 2-year-old son. She hasn’t been able to find formal care since he was born. |
| "It just got to be like a part-time job just doing the research and trying to find a place,” Neilson said. “Child care issues probably cause me more anxiety than anything else ever has in my life.” |
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