Arkansas is facing a child care cost crisis. While this problem is not unique to our state, it is time for Arkansas to enact bold changes to make quality child care in Arkansas more affordable, equitable, and accessible. In order to effectively advocate for solutions to the child care cost crisis, it is important to first understand the current landscape. The term, “child care,” includes care for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children and can be in a family child care home or a child care center. Child care for school-age children includes after school and summer programs, referred to as out-of-school time programs.
Equitable access to these child care options requires affordability for families. According to a report released by Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) in 2024, the national average price of child care continued to increase in 2023, up to $11,582. That is nearly 22% higher than the average price in 2018. In Arkansas, the average annual price of child care in a center is $8,869 for an infant and $8,099 for a toddler.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends no more than 7% of a family’s annual income to go toward child care. The closest state to achieving that recommendation is South Dakota, where it costs, on average, 7.1% of a married couple family’s income to send an infant to a child care center.
The median income for a single parent family in our state is $29,541, meaning the cost to put one child in a child care center would be 30% of the single-family income — far from affordable.
In fact, the cost of child care is higher than many household expenses. In all 50 states, the price of center-based care for two children is higher than average annual rent payments, even doubled in some places. In 45 states, including Arkansas, the cost of sending an infant and a 4-year old to a child care center is higher than annual mortgage payments. Consider the average cost for an infant and toddler to attend center-based child care in Arkansas — $17,088 for both of them. That’s also higher than the average cost of in-state college tuition.
CCAoA recommends an increase of sustainable funding for child care to lower the cost and provide more families with child care assistance vouchers. In Arkansas, the Office of Early Childhood at the Arkansas Department of Education administers the federally-funded Child Care Development Fund program, a child care voucher program to help qualifying families get child care. The program was recently renamed School Readiness Assistance and expanded eligibility for the early childhood education workforce, a huge policy win! The Arkansas Better Chance for School Success program is our state-funded Pre-Kindergarten program for low-income 3- and 4-year olds. This program has been flat funded for over a decade, and actually the value of our state dollars spent on this essential program has decreased due to inflation.
We need creative solutions mapped to intended consequences instead of placing even more financial burden on child care providers. Lawmakers should consider and pass child care tax incentives for families, child care providers, and businesses to help offset the cost. Two relevant bills have already been filed to date during our current legislative session, including HB1019, which would provide a refundable income tax credit to businesses that provide or pay for licensed child care for its employees and HB1021, which would provide an income tax credit for the early childhood education workforce.
During our state legislature’s last regular legislative session in 2023, they passed the LEARNS Act and emphasized a self-described bold transformation on education in our state. This time around, it’s time to focus on our youngest, from birth to 5, and heed the call of what early childhood education advocates have been requesting for years — investing early is essential and truly makes the difference for the rest of a child’s life.